• James Piscopo, former Lands Authority CEO, received thousands from Fortina CEO Edward Zammit Tabona’s company in 2019.
• That same year, Parliament approved a cut-price deal allowing Fortina to redevelop its Sliema hotel site into apartments and offices.
• The government valued the land at €8.1 million, but independent estimates placed it at €18–23.8 million, a discrepancy of nearly €13 million to Fortina’s benefit.
• Piscopo had business ties with Zammit Tabona, co-owning a company together until 2018.
• Months after resigning over corruption allegations, Piscopo received an €11,800 a month consultancy contract for Ozo Group, which is part-owned by Zammit Tabona.
• NAO report found Lands Authority officials withheld higher valuations, and that Fortina received inside information about the deal.

An intelligence report details how former Lands Authority CEO James Piscopo received payments from a company owned by Fortina’s CEO in the very year Parliament approved a cut-price deal for the group to redevelop its Sliema hotel site into lucrative apartments and offices.

Piscopo and Zammit Tabona confirmed the payments. However, both said the payments were private and legitimate and had no connection to the waiver.

In 2019, Parliament approved Fortina Group’s request to convert its Sliema site for €8.1 million. It was first purchased from the government in three deals from 1991 to 2000 for a total value of around €1.4 million. 

The land was sold for the sole purpose of extending its hotel on the site, into apartments, offices, and commercial spaces. The request was first submitted in April 2017 by Charles Mangion, a Notary Public, who was a government MP at the time and now chairperson of the Malta Tourism Authority, who acted as Fortina’s notary.

Mangion told Amphora Media that “ at no point did such engagements give rise to any conflict of interest” and that “the Auditor General never deemed it necessary to summon [him] or to request any clarification regarding the professional submission”.

The government settled for €8.1 million, taking into account only one out of the four sites. But an independent valuation, which the Lands Authority suppressed, placed the land’s worth between €18.3 million and €23.9 million, depending on the payment terms.

The National Audit Office estimates the site at €21 million, compared to the Lands Authority’s €8.1 million, a discrepancy of nearly €13 million to Fortina’s benefit.

As part of the deal, Fortina paid €1 million upfront and would pay an additional €7.1 million within ten years. By the end of 2024, Fortina had paid approximately €2.9 million, leaving a balance of around €5.1 million, which is to be settled in full by July 2029.

An investigation by Amphora Media and Times of Malta has uncovered a series of transactions between James Piscopo and companies co-owned by Edward Zammit Tabona from 2017 to 2022, including details of the company they owned together while the former was heading Transport Malta and later the Lands Authority.

Piscopo confirmed the payments in reply to questions sent by Amphora Media. However, he stressed that they concerned his “private affairs, private individuals, private companies, and events that are entirely unrelated to the Fortina waiver process”.

Piscopo stated that the payments were related to a €46,541 investment in 2017 and a subsequent divestment in 2019, which he made with Edward Zammit Tabona, co-owner of BBF Ltd. He added that he had declared the conflict of interest in September 2018. Piscopo said this came at “the earliest opportunity”. However, the NAO report confirms this came after media questions were sent regarding his involvement.

“My role in the group is exclusively that of CEO of Fortina Investments Limited. I maintain separate business interests independent of the Fortina Group,” Zammit Tabona said via his spokesperson. 

“Piscopo was briefly a partner/shareholder in BBF following its formation in 2017. In 2018 he sold his share within the company and was subsequently paid for it”, which were “duly returned to him by 2019”.

“All payments from BBF to any Piscopo-related entity were legitimate and properly due as evidenced above.”

Piscopo was the CEO of the Lands Authority in 2019 when the Fortina waiver went through. Between 2016 and 2018, while serving as Transport Malta CEO, he was a shareholder in a private company, BBF Ltd. The shareholders of BBF were companies whose UBOs were Piscopo, Zammit Tabona and others.

The intelligence report indicates that he received in excess of €50,000 from Zammit Tabona-linked firms in 2019. A few months after being forced to resign all public roles, Piscopo was also awarded an €11,800-a-month consultancy with Ozo Group, part-owned by Zammit Tabona.

Piscopo confirmed his employment with Ozo Group, which he said continues to this very day “on business development and strategic guidance, while providing support to various connected companies, specific project management initiatives, and internationalisation”.

“James Piscopo has been a senior member of the Ozo Group team since 2021, and to this very day, he provides the group with a professional contribution backed by his academic background and demonstrated senior management experience,” OZO Group’s spokesperson wrote in response to reporters’ questions about the transactions, rejecting any claims of wrongdoing.

Piscopo’s Conflict of Interest

Piscopo only declared his conflict of interest with Fortina’s owners in September 2018, after journalists raised questions months into his appointment. He insisted that he did not engage “in any conduct that could have influenced the course of decisions or actions” but could “not exclude the possibility of having been asked to provide [Fortina] updates”.

Piscopo divested his shares in BBF Ltd., the company he co-owned with Zammit Tabona, when he took over as Lands Authority CEO in July 2018. The documents were submitted to MBR in October 2018, the month following the discovery of the conflict of interest. 

In submissions to the NAO, a Fortina representative admitted approaching Piscopo “for assistance on Fortina’s request for the rescission of conditions burdening its site”.

“One of the representatives of Fortina conceded that he had known the CEO Lands Authority for several years and that the latter was a close friend of his. He admitted that he had had a business connection with the CEO Lands Authority, but emphasised that this had ended long before and that, at this juncture, this posed no conflict of interest.”, the report reads.

Fortina said Piscopo refused to intervene, instead directing them to Lino Farrugia Sacco, the Chairman of the Lands Authority. Farrugia Sacco, who died in 2021, was later found by the NAO to have withheld a report showing higher valuations, warning it “would create problems for him.”

Despite this, Piscopo was provided with the minutes of the Board of Governors meetings discussing the deal. The NAO also noted that in September 2018, Piscopo disclosed to the media that negotiations with Fortina were ongoing, even though he was supposedly not party to the process.

Email showing Piscopo receive minutes on valuation in April 2019

Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff for the Office of the Prime Minister, also told the National Auditor that he held weekly meetings with then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Lands Minister, the PA CEO and Piscopo, in his capacity as Lands Authority CEO, to discuss major development and investment projects, including that of Fortina.

The NAO highlighted inconsistencies in Schembri’s timeline and later contradictions in his testimony. In later submissions, Schembri, considered by the NAO as part of a wider effort to conceal the valuation by the audit firm, said that Piscopo’s friendship with Fortina “rendered resort to the OPM redundant”, raising NAO concerns.

The NAO report has determined that Fortina were the recipient of a significant information leak.

The Auditor General noted that, by 4th February 2019, Fortina was already in possession of the €8.1 million valuation by the Architects’ Lands Authority, before the Board of Governors meeting, since its counterproposal explicitly referenced the figure.

Fortina later confirmed that this valuation triggered its own €2.7 million counter-valuation.

Fortina told Amphora Media that “Edward Zammit Tabona has always conducted himself in a correct manner as CEO of the Group” and that while it was not in a position to comment, it stressed that Piscopo abstained in discussions or decisions on the waiver.

It went to raise doubts about the conclusions of the NAO report, insisting that it “ identified inconsistencies and serious flaws” in the methodology.

The €46,000+ Payment And The €11,800 A Month Contract: Piscopo’s Links to Zammit Tabona

At the heart of the payments between Piscopo and Zammit Tabona was Roswell Management Limited, formerly known as Undecim Five Investments Limited, Piscopo’s private company. 

An intelligence report shows that between 2017 and 2022, Piscopo’s companies had transactions with three entities linked to Fortina’s owners:

• BBF Limited – a company Piscopo co-owned and founded with Fortina’s Edward Zammit Tabona, Sharlon Pace, and others. He divested in July 2018.
• Shed Investments Limited – a company founded and, at the time, co-owned by Zammit Tabona.
• Ozo Group – a company where Zammit Tabona is a 12.5% shareholder.

Zammit Tabona is the CEO of Fortina Investments Ltd – the holding company behind the Fortina Hotel and the surrounding development, which includes the Bet365 office block, and is involved in OzoGroup, Captain Morgan ferries, and other ventures.

An intelligence report shows that in 2017, Piscopo’s company issued several cheques totalling €64,541 in favour of BBF Limited. Piscopo says this figure was €46,541.

In 2019, the year Fortina was awarded the €8.1 million deal, Piscopo’s company received €46,541 from BBF Limited and a further €8,642 from Shed Investments Limited.

By 2021, Piscopo began to receive structured payments from Ozo Group, another company part-owned by Zammit Tabona, for “strategic, general and project management advisory services”.

OZOMALTA Limited, a company wholly owned by Ozo Group, paid Piscopo’s Roswell €11,800 each month from April 2021 to March 2022.

“My independent [of Fortina Group] business interests include minority shareholdings and directorship in BBF, and minority shareholding in OZO Group,” Zammit Tabona wrote in response to Amphora’s questions. “All payments from BBF to any Piscopo-related entity were legitimate and properly due as evidenced above. Regarding OZO Group, Mr Piscopo provided and still provides professional services to the company.”

The contract began a few months after Piscopo resigned from his public roles following revelations that he was under investigation by the police concerning his alleged ties to corruption.

“When the process for the waiver of the two restrictions was initiated, Mr Piscopo did not form part of the Lands Authority. When he subsequently became CEO, he had no part in the decision over the rescission of the conditions. Any suggestion that my relationship with Mr Piscopo was leveraged for Fortina’s benefit is, to say the least, unfair,” Zammit Tabona said.

The payments were made via standing order, two by cheque. Piscopo reportedly provided authorities with a contract detailing the provision of strategic, general, and project management advisory services. An invoice was also provided explaining that the €10,000 related to the services and €1,800 was the 18% VAT Tax Rate.

The Times of Malta had previously revealed how former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat allegedly received payments from Fortina soon after stepping down as Prime Minister in 2020.

“Your assertion seems to indicate to your readers that I receive ‘payments’ for nothing.  I can confirm that wherever I receive payments, it is as remuneration for professional work that I would have carried out,” Muscat said at the time.

Over five years, Roswell’s accounts were mainly credited by: BBF, Ozo Group, Shed Limited and Reanda, a company part-owned by Robert Borg, an accountant and former secretary of Transport Malta who has served on numerous entities’ boards and councils. (read more about business dealings involving Piscopo and Borg).

Investigators reported that there was no activity in Roswell’s bank accounts in 2018 and 2020. This raised suspicions among investigators that “Roswell Management may have been set up for dubious purposes”.

The Lands Authority and the Malta Police Force did not respond to questions.

A timeline of events can be found below:

12th June 1991: Fortel Services Ltd, which then operated Fortina, purchases the first site, which includes land and airspace, from the government for €256,231.
25th January 1996: Another contract of sale was entered into by the Government and Fortel for 2,992 square metres of public land for €249,243.
15th February 2000: Through the third contract of sale and transfer, the Government sold a portion of land measuring approximately 1,421 square metres for €931,749.
18th August 2016: James Piscopo co-founded BBF Ltd, which included Edward Zammit Tabona as a shareholder.

3rd February 2017: Lands Authority was established, replacing the Government Property Department (GPD).

22nd March 2017: Fortina request clearance from the GPD to submit ​​a development planning application for the site.

3rd April 2017:  Charles Mangion, at the time a Government MP and now MTA Chairman, submitted a request on behalf of Fortina to the Lands Authority for the waiver of certain restrictions imposed on the area earmarked for development. 

2017: Piscopo’s company issues several cheques totalling €64,541 to BBF Limited.

20th April 2018: Revised valuation from the Lands Authority architect is submitted, putting it at €8,100,000. They include only one part of the site in this valuation, on the order of the then-Lands Authority CEO Carlo Mifsud. 

1st July 2018: James Piscopo is appointed as Lands Authority CEO 

27th September 2018: PA approves Fortina development. That same day, the media sent questions regarding Piscopo’s business connections with the owners of the Fortina Hotel.

28th September 2018: Piscopo discloses that he has two companies with common shareholding as Zammit Tabona.

4th February 2019: Unprompted, Fortina prepared feedback in response, citing the €8,100,000 valuation despite this not being disclosed by the Authority.

25th March 2019: An independent audit firm submits valuation – €18,341,559 in present terms or €23,887,942 if settled on completion.

17th July 2019:  Parliament approves a deal under which Fortina would pay €1,000,000 up front and another €7,100,000 over up to 10 years (following the Deed of Amendment) in return for the rescission of certain development/use restrictions on its site. 

2019: Piscopo’s company receives €46,541 from BBF Limited and €8,642 from Shed Investments Limited, two companies linked to Fortina’s CEO, Edward Zammit Tabona.

April 2021: After resigning from public roles, Piscopo begins receiving  €11,800  a month from Ozo Group, where Zammit Tabona is a shareholder. 

7th May 2021: Arnold Cassola requests that the National Audit Office investigate the case.

31st December 2024: By this date, of the €8,100,000 payable, Fortina has paid the Government €2,925,424, leaving a balance of €5,174,576. The outstanding amount is to be settled by July 2029.

15th September 2025: The NAO publishes a report finding that Lino Farrugia Sacco (chair of the Lands Authority Board) and other officials withheld an audit-firm valuation and recommended that relevant authorities investigate further, given the seriousness of the discrepancy.

The Fast Ferry and Marina di Valletta: The Zammit Tabonas Major Contracts Under Piscopo

Zammit Tabona family has been the recipient of other government tenders while Piscopo was at the helm at first at Transport Malta and then at the Lands Authority.

• In 2021, the Zammit Tabonas and their partners, including Malta Public Transport, launched a fast ferry service between Malta and Gozo. This was after at least three requests for proposals by the government issued under Piscopo’s tenure were shot down. The Shift News reported claims from competitors Virtu Ferries Limited that they were “written to fit a particular company”. Virtu and Gozo Fast Ferry have since merged to form Gozo High Speed. “Virtu’s position on the matter is clearly outlined in the appeal which was filed by Virtu before the Public Contracts Appeals Board (and the subsequent related proceedings),” the company’s representative wrote in response to Amphora’s questions.

• Zammit Tabona and his mother, Veronica, are shareholders in the consortium that won the bid to operate Marina di Valletta in 2015. The shares were transferred to Zammit Tabona in 2023.

Piscopo served as the Labour Party’s CEO in the run-up to its 2013 electoral victory and was a key member of Joseph Muscat’s inner circle. He was appointed executive chairman (CEO and chairman) of Transport Malta from 2013 to June 2018 and then later the CEO of the Lands Authority from July 2018 to December 2020, when it was revealed that he was subject to a Police investigation.

James Piscopo received suspicious cheques while contracts from Malta Public Transport and Kappara Junction were awarded 

Amphora Media revealed earlier this year that Piscopo received €30,000 in suspicious cheques from Robert Borg, the same year the contracts for both the management of Malta Public Transport and the development of Kappara Junction were awarded.

Borg has been charged in connection with the Vitals Global Healthcare case and has previously faced controversy due to his lucrative earnings from the General Workers Union’s publicly funded community work scheme.

In seven of the nine cheques cashed by Piscopo, Borg was both the payer and payee – effectively writing them out to himself. They were then endorsed to Piscopo, who deposited them into his account. Investigators suspect this method was intended to obscure the transactions.

Borg also transferred €20,000 to Piscopo’s Roswell/Undecim Five company, while Undecim Five transferred €10,000 to Borg.

At the time of the earlier publication, Piscopo confirmed that he received the payments from Borg, with whom he said he has a longstanding friendship. However, he insisted that the payments were linked to a consultancy firm he operated with Borg while serving as CEO of Transport Malta and the Lands Authority. Borg denied any wrongdoing.

By Amphora Media

• Denise Agius, the wife of Robert Agius, received €207,000 from We Media as “consultancy fees” and “wages”, as well as a €24,000 “loan advance”.
• Robert Agius received a €4,975 payment from We Media, and a suspected further €6,000 from a company linked to We Media’s owner.
• Evidence in police possession suggests Jamie Vella funnelled payments to the partner of a convicted drug trafficker with the aid of We Media.
• We Media owner Edmond Mugliette (also appearing as Mugliett) is subject to an investigation order on “reasonable suspicion” of money laundering and handling the proceeds of crime. The probe is ongoing.

The owner of a significant production company, Edmond Mugliett, has been investigated for links with a suspected organised crime group convicted of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. Among others, the company has produced popular shows like Xarabank and Istrina.

Transaction records show that production company We Media sent €207,000 to Denise Agius, the wife of Robert Agius, one of the Maksar brothers, in 63 separate transfers between November 2016 and September 2021.

The payments were listed for “consultancy fees”, “wages”, as well as a €24,000 “loan advance”. By August 2019, Agius was receiving a monthly net salary of €4,000.

The trial and eventual conviction of Robert Agius, Adrian Agius and Jamie Vella have shone a light on the family business operations, which authorities suspect of having ties to international organised crime groups. 

Public documents analysed by Amphora Media, OCCRP, and The Times of Malta reveal Denise’s property deals and private loans, all while holding jobs ranging from hairdresser in Rabat to consultant at We Media.

Robert Agius also received a €4,975 payment from We Media Ltd. for “camera equipment”. Information in the possession of investigators shows that Agius received an additional €6,000 for the same reason from another company where Mugliette is a nominal shareholder. 

The transactions were found mixed among legitimate business transactions by We Media.

Encrypted communication in the possession of investigators suggests that Jamie Vella, another suspected gang member, funnelled payments to a convicted drug trafficker with the aid of We Media.  

Vella communicated with drug trafficker Ronnie Galea about money on several instances in 2020. As proof of payment, Vella sent Galea three bank transfer confirmation documents from We Media’s Bank of Valletta account. The transfer confirmation documents sent by Vella were printed by “Edmond Mugliette”. 

Asked about the transactions, BOV’s representative said, “the Bank is unable to comment publicly on client matters due to data protection regulations. We reaffirm that we have in place very strong due diligence and credit governance processes that meet regulatory requirements and expectations.”

Neither Vella’s lawyer nor Mugliette replied to reporters’ questions. 

Transaction records show that We Media transferred funds to Edina Szegvari. Galea’s Facebook posts indicate that he’s in a romantic relationship with a woman by that name. 

Investigation documents list several recipients of funds from Denise and Robert: one of them is Edina Szegvari, who received €1,000 from each of them, in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Jamie Vella and Adrian Agius are also listed among recipients of funds from Denise Agius.

Denise Agius, Szegvari and Galea did not respond to reporters’ questions.

Robert Agius, his brother Adrian, and Vella have long been suspected of leading the Maltese operations of an international criminal network suspected of drugs and contraband trafficking, weapons smuggling, and other crimes.

Robert Agius and Jamie Vella have been found guilty of complicity in the car-bomb assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Adrian Agius has been found guilty of the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop in a case which counted Vella and hitman George Degiorgio as accomplices. Neither of the brothers’ lawyers responded to reporters’ questions.

Owner under investigation

We Media’s owner, Edmond Mugliette, is the subject of multiple intelligence reports focusing on suspect financial transactions and, according to one July 2022 report, “participation in an organised criminal group.”

In March 2022, a court authorised an investigation order sought by the Attorney General compelling all local banks and financial institutions to hand over any financial information they have on Mugliette, We Media, and five other companies linked to him. 

The order was approved due to a “reasonable suspicion” that Mugliette was involved in money laundering and handling the proceeds of crime. 

Sources familiar with the investigation told Times of Malta that the probe is “ongoing” and the police have already questioned Mugliette.

Another intelligence report details how Mugliette was caught with €38,000 in undeclared cash while travelling from Malta to Türkiye in December 2021. The cash stash, according to the report, included €30,000 worth of €500 notes.

Eurozone banks ceased issuing €500 notes in 2019, amid concerns that the notes facilitated the transportation of large amounts of cash by criminals. 

The police and customs spokespersons did not reply to reporters’ questions.

A January 2022 intelligence report indicates that Mugliette was helping Denise Agius recover money owed to her husband by James Zammit, whose company provided a €1.3 million loan to Ages Investment, a company owned by Denise.

According to the report, Robert Agius used to give Zammit, a car dealer, vehicles to sell on his behalf, thereby preventing his name from appearing on any paperwork. Denise Agius was seeking to close the business relationship. 

Mugliette met with Zammit to terminate the “business relationship” so that funds that belonged to Robert Agius are transferred into Denise’s account, the report states. In response, James Zammit said the meeting was about a loan and not about car business.

“I categorically deny any involvement – not only to the fact that I never did any illicit trade with the said Maksar gang, but also with anyone,” Zammit said in response to reporters’ questions, adding, “our companies have gone public in 2024, entailing a very meticulous 14-month DD [due diligence] exercise by FIAU, MFSA, Malta Stock Exchange and other bodies, which as you surely know work in tandem with the police prior to any such public call.”

By Amphora Media

• Robert and Adrian Agius, known as the Maksar brothers, generated millions through property deals and private loan agreements.
• The Maksar brothers and their accomplice Jamie Vella are placed in a trafficking network with international organised crime groups.
• Loans, car deals, and real estate transactions masked the brothers’ operations.
• Ages Investments Ltd., whose sole shareholder is Denise Agius, Robert’s wife, handled over €2.5 million in property and loans.
• Deals continued even after the Agius brothers were charged with the murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia and Carmel Chircop.
• Maksars appear to have leveraged indirect streams to sidestep financial oversight, including:
  • Property deals and private loans with Brian Cutajar, who helped settle debts linked to the Chircop murder.
  • James Zammit and his Finance House issued a €1.3 million loan to Ages Investments.
  • Businessman Hugo Chetcuti issued a private loan to the Maksar family and purchased a boat yard from them.

Two helmeted gunmen push through the doors of a Birkirkara bar. Shots are fired. Raymond Agius, a suspected contraband smuggler, is murdered, leaving behind a wife and two sons, Adrian and Robert Agius. 

Over the next decade or so, the brothers, known by their family nickname Tal-Maksar, amassed a fortune through suspect property deals, private loans and various enterprises, with the assistance of family members and financial instruments.

Investigators have placed the Agius brothers, along with co-convicted Jamie Vella, within a sprawling international trafficking network of fuel, cigarettes, and drugs – with ties to organised crime groups in the UK, the Netherlands, Albania and Libya.

At one point, a document in the possession of investigators shows that the family claimed to hold almost €9 million in assets and an annual turnover of €1.7 million.

Robert Agius, a self-declared taxi driver from at least 2013 to 2018, had his assets frozen multiple times. First, from 2013 to 2018, over cigarette smuggling charges, and then from 2017 to 2020 over a 2012 heroin smuggling case. He was cleared in both cases.

Robert and his brother Adrian, at one point clients of Prime Minister Robert Abela, also had their assets frozen after being arrested for the murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia and Carmel Chircop in February 2021, when they were both listed as working in construction. 

Robert has since been found guilty of supplying the bomb that murdered Caruana Galizia, and Adrian has been found guilty of the murder of Chircop. They have been sentenced to life in prison.

Each moment could have marked an end to the brothers’ illicit financial activities. However, their operations appear to have merely shifted course into the hands of Robert’s wife, Denise, who investigators suspect was a regular collaborator, and a company called Ages Investments Ltd., which was set up months after Robert’s assets were frozen in 2017.

Official records, public registry filings, and other documents analysed by OCCRP, Amphora Media, Times of Malta, and IrpiMedia have uncovered how Denise, an associate and accomplice, played a central role in acquiring, financing and selling off properties worth millions.

The documents further expose how the brothers and their family members employed private loans and property deals to finance their operations, and often used the same channels, including Brian Cutajar, James Zammit, and the murdered tycoon Hugo Chetcuti.

Neither of the brothers’ lawyers responded to the reporters’ questions. Hugo Chetcuti’s heirs could also not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, James Zammit replied to “categorically deny any involvement – not only to the fact that I never did any illicit trade with the said Maksar gang, but also with anyone.”

Maksar, Denise Agius, and Ages Investments: €2.5 Million in Real Estate Deals, a €1.3 Million Loan, High-Value Cars and a We Media ‘job’

Ages Investments Ltd. was registered in 2017, five months after Robert’s assets were frozen, with Denise listed as the sole shareholder. Denise and Robert, married in 2011, have a separation of assets.

From 2019, the company acted as a vehicle for several asset purchases and sales. Between 2021 and 2024, it sold €1.3 million in assets.

Police and intelligence records analysed by reporters indicate she has worked as a hairdresser, making 50 euros a day, and that before registering Ages Investment, she told a bank she was a bingo hall cashier or receptionist. 

Denise Agius did not reply to requests for comment.

The company’s first significant activity was the purchase of a €470,000 villa in Baħrija, listed as the registered residence of Robert Agius, from James Zammit’s company. Zammit has been involved in several other transactions with Ages Investments & the Agius family. 

Ages Investments would purchase €765,000 worth of assets between March and October 2020, with the aid of a €1.29 million loan through Finance House p.l.c. Zammit, who is managing director at Finance House, said that only €892,000 of the loan was utilised. 

Some of the transactions happened while Robert Agius was subject to a freezing order, and ended around four months before both Agius brothers were charged in connection with the murders of Carmel Chircop and Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The brothers are believed to have had informants within the police force.

In a secret testimony to a public inquiry, ex-assistant police commissioner Ian Abdilla admitted that the Agius brothers “are well connected within the police to be honest. Well-connected within customs, and well-connected with politicians from both sides”.

The police spokesperson did not reply to reporters’ questions.

Over the period, Ages Investments acquired:

• A garage in Qawra (€30,000);
• Airspace to develop apartments in Rabat for €300,000;
• Airspace to develop a maisonette and apartment in Mosta for €185,000;
• The purchase of a penthouse in St Paul’s Bay for €250,000 from a company owned by Adrian Agius, Denise’s brother-in-law.

The €1.29 million loan James Zammit’s Finance House issued to Ages Investments Ltd financed several other deals, including:

• Payment on the remaining €270,000 balance on Zammit’s Baħrija property;
• Acquisition of a portion of land along Triq L-Imdina;
• Acquisition of a Mercedes GTR worth €190,000;
• Acquisition of the two sites in St Paul’s Bay, including Adrian’s apartment;
• And settling outstanding €330,000 debts.

The loan, of which Zammit says only €892,000 was utilised, was guaranteed on a property subject to the lifelong usufruct of Polly Agius, known as Paola or Pauline, who is the mother of Robert and Adrian Agius, and their co-shareholder in Ter-Nova Holdings, and numerous other companies with her sons.

Polly Agius could not be reached for comment via the family’s lawyers.

Zammit categorically denied any involvement or complicity with the brothers’ criminal activities, stressing that his companies had undergone a “meticulous” due diligence process and had been subject to audits.

He added that there were no freezing orders or criminal proceedings against Denise that would have been flagged by their AML specialist. Denise and Ages Investment were not subject to any freeze order.

“The time has now come to discuss a settlement plan with Ages Investments Ltd for the full outstanding amount plus interest and charges,” Zammit said.

Zammit also said that since some of the facility covered a debt which was secured by Pauline Agius, it meant that she had “ a direct interest in acting as guarantor”.

Ages Investment continued its activities beyond the brothers’ arrest and further asset freezes.

In 2021, Ages bought land in St Paul’s Bay and Ħaż-Żebbuġ worth a total of €460,000. Between 2021 and 2024, the company sold four properties for a total of €1.09 million, through separate projects in St Paul’s Bay, Mosta, and Rabat. 

Investigators suspected Denise was representing Robert in the Żebbuġ deal.

Denise, Robert and Adrian acquired several high-value vehicles

Between 2010 and 2017, Denise acquired and transferred 14 cars, and as of December 2017, had four more registered in her name. 

One of the car transfers involved Adelina Pop, the then-partner of George Degiorgio, who has pleaded guilty to murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

In 2017, Denise transferred her car, valued at €55,000, to Adelina – and raised suspicions among investigators. Pop did not reply to questions about the transfers.

Court sittings have revealed that seven vehicles, valued at approximately between €184,000 and €213,700, were found in Robert’s possession when he was arrested in 2021. 

Sources have also described how Robert and Adrian controlled several high-value vehicles over the years.

Nine cars, including a Mercedes and a BMW, were acquired by Robert over one calendar year, with one car bought and sold on the same day.

The moving of assets by companies owned by the brothers or their family members highlights possible shortcomings in Malta’s enforcement of financial crime regulations, experts said.

Kathryn Westmore, who leads the financial crime policy work of the UK NGO Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the transactions should have attracted the scrutiny of banking compliance teams.

“If you are banking [Ages Investment] you need to ask what are the purposes of the loans and transactions, what is their commercial rationale. If you’re a bank that has that company as a client, you would hope that your [client] onboarding process would pick up the links to someone under an asset freeze, and then the transactions would merit further investigation; you need to check someone’s made sure they have a legitimate purpose,” she said.

Manfred Galdes, the former head of Malta’s Financial Intelligence Unit, said “freezing orders very often fail to identify the assets that might have already been transferred to third parties. If not preceded by a parallel financial investigation that traces the movement of assets, the effectiveness of the freezing order is extremely limited.” 

Any failure to trace and target assets means that there would be “lots of gaps for people to transfer assets to companies,” he added.

Leaked transaction records also show that We Media, one of Malta’s most prominent media companies, which has produced shows like Xarabank, acted as a facilitator, sending €207,000 to Denise in 63 separate transfers between November 2016 and September 2021, registering her as a full-time employee.

This includes a €4,000 per month ‘salary’ she received between August 2019 and September 2021 as ‘wages’ and ‘consultancy fees,’ as well as €24,000 as a ‘loan advance’.

Robert Agius also received a €4,975 payment from WeMedia Ltd. for “camera equipment”. Information in the possession of investigators suggests that Agius received an additional €6,000 for this from another company where Mugliette is a nominal shareholder.

Neither We Media nor its owner Edmond Mugliette replied to requests for comment.

A Web of Different Money Flows: From Carmel Chircop to Brian Cutajar, James Zammit and Hugo Chetcuti 

The story of the Agius empire does not begin—or end—with Ages Investments. Rather, it was the latest vehicle to generate and move funds throughout the years.

The murder of Carmel Chircop: More Supermarkets & the villa in Bahar ic-Caghaq 

Documents seen by journalists lay out several transactions linked to the failed More Supermarket venture, of which Adrian Agius was a shareholder, and the €750,000 debt tied to the murder of Carmel Chircop.

Adrian and his partners in More Supermarkets, which included Ryan Schembri, who has since been charged with fraud, had taken out €2.8 million across four loans from Banif. In all the loans, property belonging to Agius, including a villa in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, is listed as collateral.

In March 2014, Adrian received a further €750,000 loan from Chircop, with the same villa also listed as collateral. 

Chircop was murdered a year and a half later on Adrian’s orders. The legal procurator told the court that Chircop was requesting to take over the villa at the time of his murder. 

Self-confessed collaborator Vince Muscat, who said he participated in reconnaissance before the murder, told the court that Adrian Agius was especially keen to have Chircop killed and would pull him [Muscat] aside and tell him “Cens, come on let’s get it over and done with.”

According to court experts’ testimony, the constitution of debt, a formal contract recognising the amount owed by Adrian Agius and two bills of exchange, signed by Schembri, were found locked in the drawer in Chircop’s office. 

The entire debt was waived in 2017, with his widow receiving a €165,000 payment with the help of Brian Cutajar, who purchased the property off Agius for €1.8 million in September 2017, a month before the murder of Caruana Galizia.

Data indicates that Adrian and Robert Agius regularly employed a constitution of debt, which is a formal, notarised document that acknowledges an existing debt between a debtor and a creditor. 

Unlike traditional lending facilities, it does not involve the same level of bank paperwork or due diligence checks, making it vulnerable to misuse.

The loans are often repaid and cancelled quickly, sometimes even within months. Certain legal instruments in Malta, such as the constitution of debt, are not obliged to be done in the presence of lawyers or notaries, so there is no one to verify whether the debt is real.

The Brian Cutajar Connection: Million euro loans and payments 

Brian Cutajar, part-owner of Regina Auto Dealer, is identified as participating in several Maksar deals and financing.

Over the course of more than a decade, he and his family provided loans and engaged in property deals that enabled the Maksar network to accumulate substantial wealth.

According to documents, the families bought and sold property together since at least 2005. However, they would later use private loans and property transfers to shuffle equity and funds.

Between 2010 and 2012, Brian Cutajar and his wife, Roseanne, issued five private loans to Ter-Nova Properties Limited, totalling almost €1.29 million. 

Some of the loans were paid back in full within a year or so, while the entire debt was settled by 2017, official property records show. Ter-Nova Properties Limited is owned by both Agius brothers and their mother via a holding company.

A Maltese court had also once rejected a warrant of prohibitory injunction that Cutajar, through Regina Auto Dealer, filed against the family over a “manu brevi loan” of €500,000 he claimed to have provided. That loan, unlike a constitution of debt, would not require filing and signing by a notary.

The case did not burn bridges between the two families. In 2017, the same year the Agius family settled their debt with the Cutajars, Brian Cutajar purchased the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq villa for €1.8 million, and settled the €165,000 debt that Agius had eventually settled with Chircop’s widow, according to court testimonies.  

James Zammit: The  €1.29 million loan and other deals 

The financial relationship between the Agius family and James Zammit dates back over a decade and extends beyond the 2019 property purchase and the €1.29 million loan in 2020.

Transactions between the Agius brothers and Zammit date back to 2014, when Zammit provided around €335,000 worth of loans through separate companies.

In 2014, Zammit lent Adrian Agius €108,000, with an apartment in St. Paul’s Bay serving as collateral. Agius would sell the apartment one month later for €140,000 – and repay Zammit the same year.

Two months later, a separate firm controlled by Zammit lent Agius a further €230,000, with the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq villa again being used as collateral. On the same day, Adrian Agius sold a 1,000 sqm piece of land in Naxxar, known as ta’ Xmajna, to Zammit’s company for the cut price of €20,000.

Zammit stated that the transaction involved a promise of sale he signed to acquire Agius’ Massiabelle Villa in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. He said that he had paid a €230,000 deposit and would pay the remaining €1.1 million within a year. He said that the deal fell through once he discovered significant loans on the property from Banif Bank and Carmel Chircop. 

Eventually, Zammit agreed to acquire the ta’ Xmajna land and several cars as settlement of the amount due.

Several transactions around the murder of Chircop in 2015 have raised investigators’ eyebrows.

In September 2015, BNF issued a €250,000 bank draft to Oyster Trust in the name of Pauline Agius, reportedly intended to settle a banking facility related to More Supermarkets. Instead, the cheque was deposited into James Zammit’s account.

The bank declined to comment on client transactions. Still, it reiterated that it “has always acted within its legal rights and in full compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory banking requirements.”

A few days after the deposit, Zammit withdrew €150,000 in “cash to be kept at home” – and in October, he transferred a further €128,000 to an account belonging to his company.

Zammit confirmed the transaction but said that one of his licensed business activities included cashing cheques issued by the Government. He said it involved withdrawing sizable cash amounts, especially during particular periods of the month, to offer this service.

The Malta Financial Services Authority declined to comment on the specifics, but said, “Should any issues or potential breaches arise during such examinations, appropriate regulatory and enforcement action is taken in accordance with our mandate.”

Investigators also flagged several payments Finance House plc issued for the legal services of Keith Borg understood by investigators to be on behalf of Robert Agius and/or Denise Agius in May 2022.

Zammit categorically denied that he had ever paid for any legal services for anyone other than for “myself, my companies, my wife and/or children. The payment here mentioned was for a personal matter.”

The police did not reply regarding the status of the investigation.

Hugo Chetcuti & the Vella Farm

One significant transaction within the Agius’ portfolio that raised eyebrows was a series of payments from Hugo Chetcuti, a businessman murdered in July 2018, or his company, All Round Entertainment Ltd. 

On 8th May 2014, Chetcuti handed the Agius brothers an €800,000 brevi-manu loan, with a farm in Magħtab, known as ‘Vella Farm’, listed as collateral. It was repaid with interest of 6% by the start of 2017. 

A few months later, on 10th October 2014, the Agius brothers sold the farm to Hugo Chetcuti’s company for €700,000. The brothers had acquired the property in 2008, months after the death of their father. 

That means Chetcuti transferred some €1.5 million to the Agius brothers over those few months. The deals happened while Robert was subject to the freezing order.

Chetcuti had various interests around the island, from nightclubs and strip clubs to restaurants. While his killer has been convicted, the motive was never established. His heirs and All Round Entertainment did not reply to reporters’ questions.

By Julian Bonnici and Daiva Repečkaitė.

• Joseph Portelli issued over €637,000 in payments to John Dalli, via their companies, between 2017 and 2022
• A 2017 lease contract, which officials believe to have been forged, references COVID-19, almost three years before the pandemic was even declared.
• Bank officials flagged irregularities, including continued payments after the lease ended.
• Almost 30 companies had the same registered address as the lease agreement, including one reportedly linked to a Ponzi scheme.
• Portelli denied “ever doing business” with John Dalli in a 2021 interview.

A backdated contract. Hundreds of thousands in unexplained payments. Banking officials believed transactions between former EU Commissioner John Dalli and developer Joseph Portelli were tied to a suspected financing agreement on Mercury Towers.

Bank records seen by Amphora Media and The Times of Malta show that Portelli’s Mercury Contracting Projects transferred at least €637,200 in annual payments to Dalli’s company, Tabor Consult, since 2017.

• 2017: €70,800
• 2018: €129,800
• 2019: €94,400
• 2020: €94,400
• 2021: €129,800
• 2022: €82,600

John Dalli refused to answer the specific questions sent regarding the contract and the discrepancies flagged by banking officials, saying it was “appalling” to ask him to provide documentation to counter the official report. He insisted that the report was an “inquisition” and told reporters, “you are ignorant of the business practices and the operations of professional offices”. 

Joseph Portelli did not reply to questions sent. 

Who is Joseph Portelli?

Raised in Canada, Joseph Portelli emerged as the poster boy for Malta’s development boom after Joseph Muscat swept to power in 2013, with his forays into sports club ownership, through Hamrun Spartans and Nadur Youngsters, bringing further attention.

He enjoys a close relationship with politicians and has boasted of his frequent meetings with them to “speed up the process” and “argue for [his] rights.
The Shift News had revealed that Prime Minister Robert Abela even attended a fundraising dinner in Gozo organised by Portelli and his associates to support the Labour Party’s electoral campaign.

Who is John Dalli?

A Maltese accountant-turned-politician, Dalli served in a long line of Nationalist government cabinets between 1987 and 2010 under Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi. He was later appointed European Commissioner in 2010 and resigned in 2012.

Dalli was forced to resign as EU Commissioner amid claims of bribery and trading in influence with a Swedish company in return for seeking to influence EU legislation.  An anti-fraud investigation recommendations were forwarded to the Maltese judiciary, and a court case is ongoing. Dalli denies the charges.

After leaving the Commission, he was appointed as an official consultant to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, shortly after he came to power in 2013.

The transactions raised concerns among officials, notably as Dalli’s Tabor Consult has never submitted audited accounts. Dalli established the company, a consultancy firm, in 2014, two years after he resigned from the EU Commission over bribery charges that are still underway.

The latter remains true today, with the Malta Business Registry confirming to Amphora Media that it had issued administrative penalties to Tabour Consult for failing to do so.

2017 Agreement Included COVID-19 Reference Two Years Before Pandemic

To justify the payments from Portelli, Dalli provided officials with a lease agreement dated the 30th June 2017, which claimed that Portelli’s Mercury Contracting Projects rented his office at Portomaso for €10,000 per month. The company indeed used this address from its incorporation in 2016 until 2024. 

Officials believed that the agreement was retroactively edited or even forged. The 2017 contract included an explicit reference to COVID-19 in its force majeure clause—a full two years before the pandemic began.

Marcel Bonnici, the CEO of Mercury Towers, confirmed with Amphora Media that there was no contract when the lease began, and the one provided to authorities was produced retroactively. However, he insisted that there was “nothing suspicious in the nature of the agreement”, despite the reference to COVID-19. 

An analysis by Amphora Media and The Times of Malta found that almost 30 companies shared the same registered address, many of which were during the period of the agreement.

Bonnici confirmed that the address was used as the registered office of several companies, but stated that it was “completely normal.”

These include several companies of Dalli, his daughters, and Portelli, including Tabor Consult and Mercury Towers, and other companies not linked to the payments, which include Vitals Global Healthcare’s Shaukat Ali.

The inquiry into the Vitals Global Healthcare/Steward hospitals deal revealed that Dalli and Ali had long-standing business ties, with Asad Ali, Shaukat’s son, once serving as a shareholder in Interactive International Corporation Limited, later Corporate International Consultancy Limited, alongside Dalli’s daughters, Louisa and Claire, in 2009.  Dalli’s company also introduced Shaukat’s wife to HSBC.

Experts in the inquiry also believe that Dalli introduced Ali to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

Officials raised concerns over missing documentation to explain the transactions between Dalli and Portelli.

These include why payments continued for at least three years beyond the lease’s expiry, despite Dalli not providing an extension agreement; and why Portelli, a construction magnate with an extensive portfolio across Malta, would even need to rent the premises in the first place.

Meanwhile, documents show that Mercury Contracting Projects listed the Portomaso premises as its future official address in company documents almost nine months before the signing of the agreement.

Previous transaction reports had also flagged that Dalli was “lending funds to Mercury Towers” and charging an interest of more than the 8% allowed by law, and would not be subject to taxation. Authorities were informed. However, it appears the case did not progress further.

Questions about Mercury Towers’ finances, which have been raised on the back of several public bonds, are not new.

In 2024, developer Joseph Portelli floated a €20 million public bond to refinance part of the project’s debt with Bank of Valletta. 

Company filings show liabilities reaching more than €190 million by 31 December 2023—more than twice the figure reported two years earlier. Assets rose in tandem, reaching €269 million, which is also approximately double the 2021 level.

Initially slated for completion in 2019, the development’s structural works were not finished until November 2023. Management then set a target for a full launch by the end of 2024, but that deadline has also been missed.

Conflicting Statements and Ongoing Probes: Portelli Said He Never Did Business With John Dalli 

Despite the significant transactions, Portelli denied ever doing business with John Dalli in a September 2021 interview with the Times of Malta.

“I have never done business with John Dalli,” he said.

“Sixteen years ago, I had knocked on his door to tell him I wanted to develop projects in Libya. Shortly afterwards, he invited me to go with him on a trip to Libya to meet with people who would be interested in my projects. That’s how I know him.”

The data directly contradicts Portelli. At that point, at least €389,400 had been transferred between Portelli and Dalli’s companies.

There are further links between Portelli and Dalli. Notably, Claire Gauci Borda, Dalli’s daughter, serves as Chief Financial Officer at J Portelli Projects.

Gauci Borda faces separate legal difficulties, accused, along with her sister, of running a Ponzi scheme in a high-profile case that has also drawn intense media attention due to delays in prosecution.

Bank officials also raised concerns over the operations of Corporate Group Limited—another entity linked to Dalli and owned by his daughters, which is reportedly connected to the Ponzi scheme case.  

The company transferred a €750,000 “loan” to Tabor Consult shortly before closing its bank account in mid-2018. This transaction heightened concerns among banking officials about possible money laundering or unreported financial arrangements.

Claire Gauci Borda and Louisa Dalli did not reply to the questions sent.

Malta’s investigative authorities were informed of the transaction. It appears no further action was taken. Both the Police and FIAU said they could not disclose or confirm information on such investigations.

BOV also said it was unable to comment publicly on client matters due to “data protection regulations”, but insisted it has “in place very strong due diligence and credit governance processes that meet regulatory requirements and expectations”.

Following publication, Mercury Towers Contracting Projects Ltd, owned by Joseph Portelli, categorically rejected “any insinuation of wrongdoing in relation to the commercial lease agreement our group of companies had with Tabor Consult”.

In the statement, Mercury admitted that the lease provided which referenced COVID-19 was produced retroactively, but said this was a “simple administrative oversight and does not, in any way, suggest intent to mislead or falsify documentation”.

“Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) are not evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, we have not been contacted by any authority with concerns about this agreement.”

It said that Portelli’s comments in 2021 referred to  business partnerships, not administrative leasing arrangements. 

The whistle-blower who exposed slain Turkish-Cypriot tycoon Halil Falyalı’s alleged Malta-linked illegal betting empire has been murdered in the Netherlands.

Cemil Önal was reportedly killed on the terrace of a hotel in the south of the Netherlands on the evening of Thursday 1st May.

Follow the Money said it had spoken on Monday to Önal, who said he expected an attack on his life. His lawyer told Follow the Money that they had reported the danger to Dutch authorities.

Önal had warned that his life was in danger, saying that the bribes the network paid to powerful individuals in Turkey and northern Cyprus made him a target.

Turkish prosecutors indicted Önal for allegedly establishing a criminal group for laundering money obtained from illegal betting. Önal feared he would be murdered if he returned to the country due to the information he had on powerful individuals. 

Authorities in Türkiye denied these allegations. Önal was released from prison in the Netherlands while his case was pending.

Since leaving prison, he has given media interviews, where he voiced allegations against “bureaucrats and politicians from Türkiye and some of their relatives”.

Önal spoke to OCCRP as part of an investigation which included Amphora Media and Times of Malta, which revealed a web of companies and websites within Falyalı’s network. Falyalı was murdered in February 2022. His associates allegedly ran an expansive illegal betting operation that generated at least €75 million per month, and had ties to Malta. 

According to Önal’s testimony, corporate documents and online records, Ulaş Utku Bozdoğan, founder and owner of the Kebab Factory chain, and Burak Başel, co-proprietor of the Food for Fit café, were allegedly connected to the network of Falyalı.

Bozdoğan and Başel played roles in the licensing of allegedly illegal gambling websites within the network. Together, they allegedly helped sustain and expand the network, using Malta’s regulatory environment to their advantage.

A government source confirmed that the authorities are investigating Falyalı’s links to Malta. Malta’s Police Force said it was “not in a position to confirm or otherwise such information”.

Bozdoğan and Başel denied the claims. 

“I have never met or had any dealings with Mr Cemil Önal and/or Halil Falyali and I can say that this information is false.” Bozdoğan said.

Turkish prosecutors indicted Önal for allegedly establishing a criminal group for laundering money obtained from illegal betting.

In January 2023, at Turkey’s request, Interpol issued a red notice, describing Önal as “one of the masterminds” of Falyalı’s murder. Önal denied the allegations.

Just ten months after Falyalı’s murder, authorities seized around €40 million in assets, with Turkey’s Interior Minister announcing a crackdown on the network. He even referenced Malta’s role in a press conference.

“Virtual betting, virtual gambling and crypto constitute the circulation of money in the world without any obstacles… From the Balkans to Malta and Cyprus, they are the places where [these groups] base themselves.”

In December last year, Turkish prosecutors issued a sweeping indictment against 250 people, including 35 alleged leaders of Falyalı’s network, including his widow Özge Taşker Falyalı. Reporters uncovered that Özge purchased a dozen luxury properties in Dubai worth around €58 million in the year after her husband’s death.

The indictment revealed that Falyalı allegedly opened a cryptocurrency wallet in Malta. Malta adopted an act in 2018, which provided a grace period to cryptocurrency operators of 12 months to apply for an appropriate licence.

Records and Onal’s first-hand account suggested Vigen Badalyan & his SoftConstruct provided illegal gambling services in Turkiye and were linked to the illegal gambling network of Falyalı.