Key figure in Malta journalist murder investigation arrested for allegedly taking kickbacks 

A memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta, the capital of Malta

Credit: Reuters

A key figure in the investigation into the murder of crusading Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes for the sale of passports to foreigners.

Keith Schembri was the powerful chief of staff to Joseph Muscat, who was Malta’s prime minister until he was forced to resign late last year amid public anger over his government’s alleged cover-up of the journalist’s assassination in October 2017.

Mr Schembri, who also resigned, was arrested at the time but later released without charge, although police say he remains a “person of interest” in the investigation.

Now he faces new allegations – that he allegedly received €100,000 in kickbacks for the sale of passports to a Russian family.

Mr Schembri was arrested at his home in the early hours of Tuesday over the allegations.

Keith Schembri was chief of staff to former prime minister Joseph Muscat until they were both forced to resign

Credit: AFP

They were originally made in 2017 by Simon Busuttil, the then leader of the opposition Nationalist Party.

He said this week that he had endured “three and a half years of insults, threats and attacks” for the claims. 

He based his allegations on a leaked financial intelligence report that raised suspicions about two transactions of €50,000 paid to Mr Schembri.

He denied the allegations, saying the money represented the repayment of a loan.

The arrest came a day after a court in Malta ordered a freeze of all Mr Schembri’s assets.

The family of Mrs Caruana Galizia, who have campaigned hard for the truth to be told about who ordered her assassination and why, welcomed the arrest.

But they said it should have happened years ago, when the journalist first revealed allegations that Mr Schembri had received kickbacks on passport sales in April 2017.

“For three and a half years, the Malta Police Force and the Attorney General failed in their legal obligations to act against Schembri,” the family said in a statement.

Corinne Vella, the journalist’s sister, told The Telegraph: “This just shows how the recent history of Malta and Daphne’s fate could have been so different.”

Corinne Vella, the sister of the murdered journalist, has campaigned tirelessly to find out the truth about who ordered the killing and why

Credit: AFP

The resignations of Mr Schembri and Mr Muscat, the prime minister, followed the arrest of a wealthy businessman who police allege was the mastermind behind the plot to kill Mrs Caruana Galizia.

Yorgen Fenech, who has denied any role in the murder, was the owner of a company called 17 Black Ltd which, according to documents uncovered by Malta’s financial regulators in 2015, was due to make payments of up to $2 million to secret Panama-based companies owned by Mr Schembri and a government minister.

The three hitmen who are accused of planting and detonating the car bomb are due to go on trial next year.

The investigation into Mr Fenech is still at the stage of compiling evidence and a trial may not start for a year or more.