Inquiry into Electrogas corruption claims involving Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri finished, Casa says

Updated at 5:42pm with additional information

A magistrate has concluded a six-year probe into corruption allegations involving Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri over the Electrogas power station project, according to PN MEP candidate David Casa.

The inquiry led by Magistrate Charmaine Galea kicked off as an investigation into the revelations made in the Panama Papers journalistic investigation. It was subsequently widened to include an investigation into the secretive Dubai companies 17 Black and Macbridge, which had been identified as target clients of Mizzi’s and Schembri’s Panama companies.

Writing on Facebook, Casa said he was informed by his lawyer Jason Azzopardi that the inquiry he had called for on 17 Black, which was fused with the Panama Papers inquiry, was concluded.

Then energy minister Konrad Mizzi (right) in 2016 welcoming the arrival of the LNG floating storage tanker that supplies the gas to the power stations in Delimara

However, MaltaToday has received conflicting information with sources close to the government telling this newspaper that the inquiry is "definitely not closed".

If Casa is correct, this will be the second damning inquiry casting a long shadow over the Muscat administration to be concluded in a matter of weeks. A separate inquiry into the Vitals hospitals deal ended at the end of April and corruption charges have been filed against scores of people, including former PM Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.

17 Black, Yorgen Fenech and Electrogas

Yorgen Fenech is awaiting trial for masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia

A Times of Malta and Reuters investigation in 2018 had found that 17 Black was owned by business magnate Yorgen Fenech, who was subsequently charged with masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The corruption allegation concerns the lucrative gas power station tender that was awarded to Electrogas soon after the Labour Party came to power. Fenech, individually and as part of the Tumas Group; the Gasan Group and Paul Apap Bologna, were the Maltese component in the Electrogas consortium. The other shareholders are Germany’s Siemens and Azerbaijan’s Socar.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in October 2017 by a powerful bomb placed inside her car

In February 2016, Caruana Galizia had revealed how Mizzi, who was then energy minister, and Schembri, who was chief of staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, held secretive companies in Panama. The process to acquire these companies started by Nexia BT, a financial services firm, soon after the PL came to power in 2013.

A couple of months later, the international Panama Papers leak confirmed the information Caruana Galizia had revealed. Then prime minister Joseph Muscat had removed Mizzi from the energy and health portfolio but retained him as minister within the OPM. No action was taken against Schembri.

In February 2017, Caruana Galizia revealed the existence of the Dubai company 17 Black in a cryptic message that did not identify Yorgen Fenech as its owner. Eight months later, Caruana Galizia was murdered in a powerful car bomb explosion just outside her Bidnija house.

At the time of her murder, Caruana Galizia had received a massive data leak concerning the Electrogas consortium.

Macbridge, Enemalta and Chinese State interests

Chen Cheng, the Chinese energy negotiator who played a role in the partial sale of Enemalta to a Chinese State-owned company

In a separate investigation by Times of Malta and Reuters it was revealed that Macbridge, a Dubai-based company, was owned by Tang Zhaomin, the mother-in-law of Chinese energy negotiator Chen Cheng.

Cheng played a key role in the share transfer agreement which saw Chinese state-owned company Shanghai Electric Power buy a 33% stake in Enemalta in 2014. The deal was worth €320 million. Cheng had also pitched a Montenegro wind farm project to Enemalta from which Yorgen Fenech also benefitted. The Montenegro deal is subject to a separate magisterial inquiry.

The 17 Black inquiry was requested by David Casa, while the Panama Papers probe was requested by former PN leader Simon Busuttil. Given the overlap in investigations, the separate inquiries were fused into one. Jason Azzopardi served as the lawyer who drew up the requests in both instances.

Justice shadow minister calls for inquiry's publication