Malta government chief of staff Keith Schembri resigned, says PM Muscat

Chief of staff of Malta government Keith Schembri resigned on Tuesday, November 26, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced. Schembri was under immense pressure due to his alleged financial ties with businessman Yorgen Fenech, who was detained last week for questioning in the assassination case related to Daphne Caruana Galizia, one of the best-known investigative journalist of Malta.

Prime suspect in Caruana Galizia’s assassination

Schembri was also called in for questioning after Fenech revealed new details about financial dealings in a corruption case in which the former may be involved. According to media reports, Fenech is the prime suspect in Caruana Galizia’s murder and is willing to testify against Schembri.

In January last year, a European Parliamentary commission, in its report, had called for the removal of two top Maltese officials and demanded to bring them to justice in alleged money laundering case. The report, without naming the officials, said that their continued presence in the government will send a message of impunity in the country. The two unnamed officials in the report were Schembri and tourism minister Konrad Mizzi.

“Keeping them in office affects the credibility of the government, fuels the perception of immunity and may result in further damage to state interests by enabling the continuation of criminal activity,” the report read.

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An investigative report had revealed that Fenech owned a secret company which was used to fund secret Panama companies owned by Schembri and Mizzi. Caruana Galizia, in one of her blogs, had mentioned about the secret company but did not know that Fenech owned it. Muscat was facing severe criticism from the opposition parties for allowing the two officials to stay at their posts. 

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Recently, the family of Caruana Galizia protested over the panel set up by the Prime Minister for an independent enquiry. The family believed that the board, which had a retired judge, a lawyer, a constitutional expert, and a former forensics expert, was unfit to maintain independence and impartiality.

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(With inputs from Agencies)