The companies include the media arms of both the Partit Laburista (PL) and the Partit Nazzjonalista (PN).

The PN’s Media.Link Communications Ltd’s last published audited accounts for 2003/2004, roughly 21 years ago. One Productions, owned by the PL, last filed in 2010, 16 years ago. At the time of their filings, the two recorded accumulated losses of €6.9 millionand €2.7 million, respectively.

The most extreme case is the PL’s MLP Holdings, the main shareholder of One, whose last published accounts date back to 1999, 27 years ago.

Malta’s Financing of Political Parties Act requires parties to submit audited annual accounts to the Electoral Commission, but the obligation formally applies only to the party. 

Commercial entities owned or controlled by a party – including their media operations – are regulated under the general company-law regime enforced by the Malta Business Registry. 

The PN:

The Nationalist Party lists two companies in its latest financial statements: Media.Link Communications Co Ltd and Euro Tours Company Ltd, an entity controlled by the party but owned through Media.Link Communications .

Euro Tours’ most recently published audited accounts date back to 2004/2005, filed 16 years ago. They were submitted to the Malta Business Registry in 2010.

When Media.Link last filed audited accounts, accumulated losses stood in excess of around €6.9 million (LM 3 million).

The Nationalist Party’s latest accounts (2024) outline the party’s investments and financial exposures related to Media.Link Communications. While not a full set of accounts for either subsidiary, it provides the following details:

• The PN’s total contribution to Media.Link rose to €18.4 million (up from €17.4 million in 2023);
• In 2024 alone, it provided €1 million (up from 653,199 in 2023);
• The PN also paid loan repayments of €594,000 on behalf of Media.Link;

The PN also obtained a bank loan with repayments of €16,500 per month to restructure the credit facilities previously used by Media.Link.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, PN’s spokesperson said that the party had nothing to add to what had been publicly stated.

The PL:

The Labour Party, in government since 2013, has a larger portfolio of companies. 

MLP Holdings, the registered shareholder of One Productions and Sound Vision Print, has not published accounts since 2000, with the most recent dating back to 1999.

The latest Labour Party (2024) accounts show that the party’s stated investment in the holding company is minimal, at just €2 in 2024.

On its part, One Productions Ltd’s accounts date back to 2010, filed 14 years ago. Sound Vision Print Ltd’s last published accounts date back to 2010, filed 13 years ago. 

For the 2010 reporting period, One Productions reported a loss of €507,000 and total debt of €2.7 million. Back then, ONE’s auditors warned that the conditions cast “significant doubt” over its ability to continue, although the accounts show that its year-end loss was smaller than €833,000 the previous year.

One Productions is also the majority shareholder of Red Touch Fone Ltd, another company that has not filed accounts in around 14 years (2010).

The only company with relatively recent audited accounts is Orpheum Theatre Ltd, which registered its accounts for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, all logged in the Malta Business Registry on 24th February 2026.

According to the latest accounts published by the Labour Party (2024), the cost incurred by the party on Orpheum Theatre Ltd was almost €2 million in both 2024 and 2023.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, Malta Business Registry’s CEO, Dr Geraldine A. Spiteri Lucas wrote:

 “Under the Companies Act (Cap. 386), all registered companies are subject to the same statutory filing requirements. In cases of breach, the company is not “allowed” to avoid the responsibility; rather, it has entered a state of default subject to the enforcement mechanisms of the Registry”

“Sanctions are applied uniformly to all defaulting companies, though they are administrative rather than public-facing. Kindly note that the MBR imposes automatic late-filing penalties consisting of an initial flat penalty upon default and daily accumulating penalties.”

By Daiva Repečkaitė, Sabrina Zammit, Evy Coeckelbergs and Julian Bonnici

Over €1.15 billion has been distributed in direct orders under the Abela, Muscat and Gonzi administrations. Under Joseph Muscat, a single ministerial portfolio – Family – awarded €410.5 million in direct orders without a competitive tender. For Robert Abela’s government, the Environment & Energy Ministry has taken over, with €110 million.

A new Amphora Media analysis of all the direct orders & tenders published between 2010 and 2025 reveals that the Family, Health, Environment, Education, and Home Affairs ministries are the most lucrative portfolios for contractors to accumulate millions without a competitive process. 

Top spenders of direct orders according to ministerial portfolios under the last three administrations:

*Gonzi-era figures are based on disclosed amounts for 2011–2013 only; 2010 records largely lacked stated amounts

N.B: In Malta, ministerial portfolios, government agencies and other independent entities change over time– they can be merged and split between government terms as well as during reshuffles.

To address challenges with direct comparison across different administrations, Amphora Media looked at the first keyword in each ministry’s name (like “Transport” or “Justice”) to categorise the “portfolio item”.  We then tracked how much these entities spent on direct orders over time. 

The analysis does not cover portfolios that were merged with larger ministries (for example, when tourism was merged with foreign affairs in 2024).

Which contractors accumulated the largest sums under the different portfolios?

The Family Ministry, under different administrations and iterations, is where some of the eyewatering large direct orders are issued. 

The largest beneficiary during the period was the JCL and MHC Consortium, which received €273.6 million for Management Services of the New Hospital/ Residence. This was the largest single direct order issued over the fifteen-year period.

Another 11 beneficiaries of direct orders in this portfolio made over a million in direct orders over the period:

Care Malta Ltd (almost €61.8 million), Primecare Ltd (€10.1 million), Support Services Ltd (€8.5 million), Caring First Ltd ( €5.8 million), Age Concern Company Ltd ( €5.6 million), Healthmark Care Services Ltd ( €5.1 million), Malta Health Care Caterers (almost €4.8 million), X-Clean Ltd (over €3.6 million), Archdiocese of Malta Homes for the Elderly (€over €2.5 million), Villa San Francesco (nearly €2 million), and Falbra Ltd (€1 million).

The Environment Ministry is also among the highest spenders on direct orders. 

The United Equipment Co (UNEC) Ltd, part of Bonnici Group, was the top beneficiary, receiving over €32.2 million in direct orders for power generation, infrastructural works, industrial supplies, equipment procurement and more. 

More recently, the Shift News revealed that the government issued a €120 million direct order to a consortium led by the Bonnici Brothers.

Bonnici Bros Services was separately awarded early €3.5 million across direct orders for works on a shooting range under the Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Ministry. 

It was flagged by the National Audit Office for flawed management and weak internal controls,  including deficiencies in documentation and procurement record-keeping.. 

The official explanation was that the shooting range works were fast-tracked to ensure completion in time to host an international sporting event. In response to the unfavourable NAO conclusions, the government insisted it was still “proud” of whoever worked on the project.

Within the Environment Ministry, Ozo Malta received the second most, with €9.6 million in a single direct order for the “supply of administrative/operational services” to Wasteserv.

The Health Ministry is another major distributor of direct orders. Drugsales Ltd was the top beneficiary, with over €23.5 million in direct orders for various medical supplies and equipment.

Technoline, which has been accused of money laundering in connection with the Vitals hospital concession corruption case, is among the top 10 recipients of direct orders from the Health Ministry. Over the period, it received almost €4.7 million in direct orders for various hospital supplies.

The company was acquired by Ivan Vassallo with a loan from Vitals Global Healthcare. Prosecutors allege that Technoline Ltd was fraudulently acquired by Gateway Solutions Ltd using funds linked to the Vitals hospitals concession, allegedly structured through a loan arrangement. 

Investigators alleged that the company was “destined to be owned by former chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-minister Konrad Mizzi, among others”, according to court reporting. 

In 2024, the court upheld an asset freeze against the company. Technoline received direct orders worth over € 226,000 from the Health Ministry post the asset freeze.

Technoline was also among the top contractors for the Agriculture Ministry, receiving over € 215,000 for animal health supplies. These were issued before the charges. 

In response to the findings, a lawyer representing Technoline wrote asking “to ensure that you differentiate between a direct order sic et simpliciter and a purchase order because of and as a result of, contractual obligations.” Procurement from Technoline was classified as direct orders in the government gazette

“My client is fully operational according to law and is administered by a Court-appointed administrator,” the lawyer representing Technoline explained, adding that the company’s representatives are not “ allowed to reply to any question put to them, which question might somehow directly or indirectly refer to, or be linked with, or referenced to the pending proceedings in Court.”

Beyond Technoline, Smart Care Pinto received more than €22 million in a single direct order for long-term care beds. Infrastructure Malta, a government agency, received direct orders worth over €7.7 million.

In Home Affairs, the largest beneficiary was GO, the telecommunications company.  Gold Guard Security is also among the top providers, with one direct order worth €1.3 million. Amphora Media has previously reported on the concentration of security contracts among several providers, Gold Guard Security being one of them.

The Ministry of Gozo, which added planning to its portfolio in 2024, also issued direct orders in the millions. 

Cassar Fuel was the top beneficiary, with €6.7 million, including a single direct order worth €2.5 million, an extension of a previous marine gas oil supply contract won by tender.

Manoel Island Yacht Yard, which is not part of MIDI’s Manoel Island concession, received €2.26 million for vessel servicing, among other purposes.

In the Transport portfolio, the largest beneficiary was Link-2018 JV (reportedly a consortium between V&C Contractors, Schembri Barbros and Schembri Holdings), which received almost €2.7 million direct order, in addition to the €28 million tender it was awarded.  

Direct orders were also awarded to Enemalta – €3.9 million in total.

The ministries did not comment.

Consultancies & IT Providers

When ranking suppliers by the amount received under each portfolio, the analysis showed that consultants, including IT providers, lawyers and others, were often the largest beneficiaries of direct orders.

Notably, Mifsud Bonnici Advocates made nearly €346,000 in direct orders for legal services between 2016 and 2022. Amphora Media has reported on how Aron Mifsud Bonnici’s tax evasion and money laundering charges were extinguished after he reached an out-of-court settlement under a new legal mechanism, while he continues to face separate charges in connection with the Vitals case

Asked about this, Aron Mifsud Bonnici replied, “My firm was not the authorities’ preferred choice. The longstanding and dominant pattern of direct procurement of legal services by Maltese public entities has always centred on larger, traditional commercial law firms, which have received direct instructions from government consistently across successive administrations — before, during, and after the period your questions reference. My firm’s engagements during that period represented a temporary broadening of the pool of firms instructed, not a displacement of the established pattern.”

“It is the norm, not the exception, for legal work involving specialist expertise or urgency,” he wrote, adding about the Vitals case that “A conflict of interest requires competing interests that compromise the integrity or independence of a decision or of a professional’s conduct. No such competing interests are identified. The question simply juxtaposes two separate and unrelated matters — the Vitals case and direct orders for legal services — and invites the reader to infer a connection. None exists, and none has been established in any forum.”

A breakdown of ministry spend in these areas is below:

• Finance Ministry: FTI Consulting, a US-headquartered company, emerged as the top supplier for the Ministry of Finance, with €3.4 million in direct orders. A direct order of over €2 million was also issued to Oliver Wyman, an American consultancy. Aside from foreign consultancies, the ministry and entities under it spent €1.2 million on Tal-Lira.
  
• Justice Ministry: Directed multi-million sums to Calamatta Cuschieri & Co, a financial advisory (including €3.2 million in a single direct order) and a number of security companies: Signal 8 Security, Kerber Security and G4S Community Services were among the top 20 beneficiaries.
  
• Culture Ministry: with €1.8 million in a single direct order, the top beneficiary was software supplier European Dynamics Consortium, a multinational company.
  
• Economy Ministry:
  • Gauff Consultants received €1.4 million in direct orders;
  • Wyzer Ltd – a software consultancy co-founded by the government’s AI taskforce member Abdalla Kablan, was contracted to provide services to Malta Business Registry for over €1.2 million.
    
• The Office of the Prime Minister: Exigy Ltd was the largest beneficiary, with nearly €1.2 million. Moreover, PTL Ltd received a single direct order worth €557,272.
  
• Agriculture Ministry: Loqus Services was the top beneficiary, receiving €773,135. Separately, Loqus Business Intelligence, not registered as a company on MBR but appearing as the group’s brand, received €137,875. The group provides IT services;
  
• Energy Ministry: This portfolio’s top contractor was Darttek, with €378,704.

• Tourism Ministry: Although most top-20 contractors are corporate, there is one individual name, Marika Micallef. She received a total of €105,000 in direct orders;
  
• Social inclusion/ equality Ministry: In 2021, KPMG received a €138,000 direct order in this policy area; Labour politician and activist Desiree Attard was contracted for over €49,000 via direct order to serve as legal advisor to the Human Rights and Integration Directorate..
  

The Public Works Ministry: Awarded JF Group, which provides staffing with over €128,000 in direct orders received over 2024.

In tendering by portfolio, over three-quarters of tenders are concentrated in the hands of the Department of Contracts, making comparison with the distribution of direct orders difficult. Infrastructure Malta is the runner-up with under 9% of tender volume.

Over the period spanning 2011-2025, construction work benefited from more spending than any other tendering area, with €1.6 billion. It was followed by medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (over €724 million) and health and social work services (over €676 million).

The Government and the National Audit Office did not reply to the questions sent.

• Amphora Media analysed every direct order and tender published in the government gazette between 2010 and 2025, covering three administrations and fifteen years of public spending.
  
• Over €1.15 billion was distributed through direct orders — a non-competitive channel reserved by law for emergencies — alongside €5.6 billion awarded through tenders.
  
• Direct-order spending spikes around elections. It peaked at €410 million in 2017 – the year of the snap election, Egrant allegations, and assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia — almost a third of the entire 2011-2025 total.
  
• A single 2017 contract, worth €273.6 million, was awarded to the JCL and MHC Consortium for works at St Vincent de Paul Residence. It is the largest direct order in the dataset and was flagged by the National Audit Office for multiple irregularities.
  
• Companies linked to the Bonnici Brothers — reported beneficiaries of a recent €120 million direct order for Mater Dei works — have won multi-million-euro direct orders across administrations, including €32 million in 2024 alone and a shooting-range contract that the NAO later flagged.

A new analysis by Amphora Media of every direct order and tender between 2011 and 2025 – spanning the administrations of Lawrence Gonzi, Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela – reveals how over €1.15 billion has been distributed through direct orders.

Over the same period, €5.6 billion was awarded through tenders, which are subject to far greater scrutiny and transparency. In 2025 alone, around €494.6 million was spent on tenders.

The figures span three administrations and fifteen years of public spending. Together they reveal a procurement culture in which a mechanism designed for genuine emergencies has become a routine — and largely unscrutinised — channel for distributing public money.

What are direct orders?

Direct orders, also known as direct contracts, are termed as “negotiated procedure without prior publication”. They help authorities react to emergencies, save time and reduce red tape and are permitted only in exceptional circumstances: extreme urgency or technical or artistic reasons making only one operator suitable to supply the goods/ service.

To preserve a degree of public accountability, the law requires every contracting authority to publish a list of direct orders over €5,000.

Direct orders have faced criticism as a non-competitive method for spending taxpayers’ money. The National Audit Office has flagged the considerable use of direct orders and has called for them to be used solely in “exceptional circumstances”.

Still, there is no single repository of direct orders; instead, the government publishes them biannually in the government gazette, a digital repository without a user-friendly search interface. The government rejects requests to provide such information to Parliament. 

Using a large language model developed with NotebookLM*, Amphora Media analysed all the direct orders & tenders issued between 2010 and 2025, to discover how the public procurement mechanism is used and who benefits.  

*Details on our methodology can be found at the bottom of this article.

The Election Effect: Over €600 Million In Direct Orders Issued Around Election Seasons, €410 Million In The 2017 Election Year

One pattern cuts across the administrations: direct order spending rises in and around election years. 

In 2017 – the year of the snap election, the Egrant revelations, and the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia – direct orders peaked at €410 million, accounting for almost a third of all logged direct-order spending across the entire fifteen-year dataset.

In 2021, the year ahead of the March 2022 general election under Abela, they reached over €87 million, and then around €76 millionin 2023, the year after the vote. 

In 2024 – the last complete year included in this analysis and the year of the MEP & Local Council Elections – the figure was close to €91.2 million.

Direct orders vs Tenders

Direct orders are not the only public procurement channel, and not even the largest. Across the same fifteen years, tenders accounted for €5.6 billion, but are subject to far more scrutiny.

Opentender, a website maintained by a consortium of research institutions, shows that the number of issued tenders peaked in 2025 at 1,210 – twice the 2024 figure and several times above the number recorded during the last years of the pre-2013 PN administration.

Tender activity spiked during the 2017 and 2022 elections, in 2023 and in 2025, averaging more than 1,000 per year, against an overall annual average of 674 (2010-2025).

The total value of tenders peaked in 2024, the year of the European Parliament and local council elections, at over €1 billion. 

The post-election years 2018 and 2023 saw tender values of nearly €550 million and over €724 million, respectively. 

Abela, Muscat, Gonzi: How different administrations dished out direct orders and tenders

Amphora Media’s analysis covered three different administrations: the PN administration under Lawrence Gonzi (Prime Minister 2008-2013; the analysis covers 2010-2013), and the PL administrations under Joseph Muscat (2013-early 2020) and Robert Abela (2020-present). 

It should be noted that data quality across the administrations differed.

Robert Abela (2020-2025*)

*The 2025 figure is mostly incomplete, as part of the direct orders were not published in time for the analysis.

Direct orders under the Abela administration total €391.4 million, an average of more than €65 million per year. 

The peak years include: 2024 (€91.2 million); 2021 (€87 million), the year before the March 2022 general election, and 2023 (€76 million), the year after the election.  In 2022, the year the election was held, the distribution dipped to almost €60 million.

To put this growth in context: almost €9 million was spent on direct orders in 2011. Adjusting for cumulative inflation (29.29%) – that would be roughly €11.5 million in today’s money – well below what the government spent in 2024, some €91.2 million.

Who’s benefited under Abela?

United Equipment Co (UNEC) Ltd, a machinery importer and part of the Bonnici Group, emerged as the largest single recipient of direct orders with €32.1 million. 

More recently, the Shift News revealed that the government issued a €120 million direct order to a consortium led by the Bonnici Brothers. 

The Bonnici Bros Services was also the beneficiary of nearly €3.5 million in direct orders under the Education & Sport Ministry for works on a shooting range. 

The National Audit Office flagged the shooting range project for poor project management, weak internal controls, and verbally authorised contract variations. 

Temping and security staff provider Ozo Malta emerged among the top 5, receiving almost €9.9 million. Amphora Media previously reported on contractors like this and how they have become an embedded feature in public procurements.

Direct orders flow between government entities. Under Abela, Infrastructure Malta collected over €7.7 million in direct orders, and Wasteserv Malta made close to €1.3 million this way.

The government did not respond to the questions sent.

Direct orders under the Abela administration

According to Opentender, the Abela administration has seen the average “Good Procurement Score” decline over the years. 

The supplier awarded the largest amount in tenders was Nexans Norway AS (over €185 million for the manufacturing and installation of a subsea cable). 

It was followed by Support Services Ltd (over €169 million for nursing and residential care), which shares the same ultimate ownership with James Caterers Ltd. The third was Kore Catering JV (over €152 million,  a joint venture between the James Caterers/JCL side and the db Group.

Joseph Muscat (2013- January 2020)

Direct order spending first ballooned under Muscat, totalling €771 million across his tenure (2013-January 2020) – an average of €110 million per year, and a figure no administration has matched yet.

In 2012, the government spent roughly €11.5 million on direct orders. By 2014, the first full year of the Muscat government, direct orders jumped to nearly €37 million.

The number of direct orders peaked at €410 millionin 2017, the year of a contentious election heavily influenced by the Egrant saga.

By far the largest beneficiary was the JCL and MHC Consortium, with €273.6 million awarded in 2017 for works at St Vincent de Paule. This is the single largest direct order in the 2010-2025 dataset.

The National Audit Office flagged the contract for multiple irregularities. The justification for not issuing a tender was that “competition was absent for technical reasons and for reasons of extreme urgency”.

After that, the next five top beneficiaries were Care Malta Ltd (care homes), Lyons Care (also care homes), Drugsales Ltd (importer of pharmaceuticals), Primecare Ltd (care homes), and, separately, Drugsales Ltd – Iklin.

Church entities also received multi-million direct orders during this period: the Archdiocese made over €5.5 million in 2016-2017. 

During this time, ElectroGas Malta Ltd, a consortium comprising SOCAR Trading, Siemens Project Ventures, and GEM Holdings (representing the Gasan Group and Tumas Group won the bid to run Malta’s LNG operations. Under the Muscat administration, Siemens received more than €2.5 million across its branches.

Direct orders under the Muscat administration:

The Good Procurement Score rose towards the end of Muskat’s mandate and was higher than his predecessor’s.

According to Opentender, the largest beneficiary of tenders under Muscat was Excel Sis Enerji Üretim Construction, which received nearly €158 million.  

Founded in 2019, the company was initially embedded in an investment structure involving Maltese holding companies linked to Joseph Portelli, Joseph and Mark Agius, and Daniel Refalo (CTJ Holdings, JOGIUS, and DTX Holdings.”

The runner-up was Link-2018 Joint Venture (an entity that appears to be linked to construction contractors, Asfaltar Group, nearly €82 million) and also a significant beneficiary of direct orders later under Abela (€4.7 million).

The next were the Italian-owned Building Energy Technologies Ltd (over €69 million, awarded in the same roadworks tender as Excel Sis), Kosta Joint Venture (over €53.5 million) and RRMalta JV (linked to Bonnici Group, over €53.5 million) according to Opentender,.

Kosta Joint Venture is led by Polidano Bros. Ltd, and reportedly involves Philip Agius and Sons and Central Asphalt Limited. Josette Schembri, the wife of former PM chief of staff Keith Schembri, is a shareholder in Carmel Limited, the sole shareholder of Central Asphalt.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, Polidano Group’s representative wrote that “The joint venture was set up in 2012 solely for the purpose of submitting [the Coastal Road, circa €27 million] tender, in line with standard industry practice, and was formalised following the award of the contract.”

“Polidano had no interaction with Ms Josette Schembri; neither did she have any involvement in the management or operations of the joint venture,” the group’s representative added, emphasising full compliance with the regulatory framework and explaining that Central Asphalt was brought in “on the basis of its established track record in road-building works”.

Lawrence Gonzi (2010-2013)

Direct-order data for the Gonzi administration is available in full only for 2011 and 2012.  For 2010, few direct orders were issued, and their amounts were not stated. The largest number of direct orders was issued for the supply of trees. 

According to the disclosed figures, the Gonzi administration was distributing €20.4 million in direct orders over two years.

Palumbo Shipyards was the largest overall recipient of direct orders during 2011-2012, with close to €4 million. Rolls-Royce emerged as the runner-up, with €1.4 million, spread across two years. 

A striking feature of the period is how often direct orders went to foreign suppliers: Isis Innovation in the UK, now Oxford University Innovation (which is Oxford University’s technology transfer company), EBSCO Information Services BV (a provider of research databases), or Elsevier Information Services (an academic publisher and provider of research information and analytics services).

Direct orders under the Gonzi administration

Under Gonzi, the Good Procurement Score remained largely stagnant and below the score obtained under Muscat.

Within the 2009-2012 range of Opentender’s data, the top supplier in tenders was Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (nearly €183 million, energy engineers). The runner-up was J V Degremont SA / CCC-CMR (€57 million, sewage treatment works). B.E.V. JV Consortium, composed of Vassallo Builders Group, EFACEC, and BTA International, came third (almost €41.6 million), followed by Polidano Brothers Ltd (over €35.3 million). 

Detailed questions sent by Amphora Media to the Office of the Prime Minister, the  Department of Contracts and relevant ministries had not been replied to by the time of publication.

How did we do this analysis?

A comprehensive database of direct orders does not exist. Amphora Media built one by extracting structured data (awardee, awarding institution, amount and year) from the government gazette PDF files, using a large language model. 

The team manually verified a sample of direct orders and tenders, and corrections were made when discrepancies were detected.

Issues found in the data included: amounts & awardees not stated, figures presented as rates, differing currencies, typos, and spelling variations 

Records with missing amounts, figures presented as rates, or unclear awardees were excluded from the totals. 

The dataset runs until October 2025. The government gazette had by then recorded €4.3 million in direct orders – this is incomplete, the data is currently being published and will be added to the dataset.

The Maltese government has refused to answer almost 900 parliamentary questions on direct orders during the current legislature. Since 2022, it has failed to respond to a single question requesting a breakdown of the often-misused public spending mechanism. 

Direct orders are a non-competitive method for spending taxpayers’ money. The National Audit Office has flagged the extensive use of direct orders and has called for them to be used solely in “exceptional circumstances”. 

There is no official database of direct orders in Malta. Amphora Media will publish a comprehensive breakdown of all direct orders and tenders issued from 2010 to 2025 across the administrations of Lawrence Gonzi, Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela in a new investigation tomorrow. 

Before this current legislature, Ministers regularly provided breakdowns of the direct orders issued under their respective portfolios. However, since 2022, under the premiership of Prime Minister Robert Abela, at least 895 parliamentary questions asking for details on direct orders have been rejected.

A large number have been asked by PN MPs: Jerome Caruana Cilia (826) and Claudette Buttigieg (71). In nearly all the cases, the ministers relied on almost the same wording to justify their refusal: 

“I inform the Hon. Questioner that the Contracting Authority publishes information in the Government Gazette for every procurement carried out for every six-month period, in accordance with Regulation 111(2) of the Public Procurement Regulations.”

“I have been informed that in order to provide the information requested by the Hon. Questioner, the advisory cost is exceeded.”

“When a government chooses silence instead of answering Parliamentary Questions, it undermines public trust and accountability. Refusing to reply to questions on direct orders raises serious concerns about openness and respect for democratic institutions,” Caruana Cilia told Amphora Media. 

What does the law say? 

The rules of parliamentary questions and answers are established under Standing Orders 27, which states that “the proper object of a question shall be to obtain information on a matter of fact within the special cognisance of the member to whom it is addressed.” 

Under the rules, parliamentary questions are inadmissible if they publish a name; are inaccurate; are an attack on the personal character of an individual, among others.

Nowhere in the rules does it say that a question cannot be provided because of advisory costs.

Direct contracts, which are negotiated procedures without prior publication, are permitted under exceptional circumstances. In Malta, it has morphed into a key public spending mechanism. 

By law, all direct orders are published in the Government Gazette to ensure transparency. In reality, the Gazette publishes the data biannually in the government gazette, and has become a cited reason for not answering parliamentary questions.

The government gazette – and the direct orders published within it – is a digital repository of lengthy PDFs, and key data can sometimes be missing. Amphora Media’s upcoming investigation has brought all of that data into one place.

“Public funds are not private resources; they belong to the people and must always be used for the common good. Citizens have a right to know how their money is being spent and what decisions are being taken in their name.” Caruana Cilia said.

“Transparency is not optional; it is the foundation of good governance. If there is nothing to hide, nothing should be withheld.” 

• Ian Abdilla and Brian Paul Camilleri testified in the case involving Raymond Aquilina, Yorgen Fenech, and notary Mario Bugeja on the 24th of April.
• Abdilla recounted how he was instructed not to hand an FIAU report concerning Melvin Theuma to Raymond Aquilina, who was in charge of the investigation.
• An appointment set up for Abdilla and Aquilina to meet Fenech was aborted abruptly.
• The investigation was being delayed by difficulties in obtaining information from abroad.

A court has heard today how the then Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar specifically ordered that a sensitive financial report be kept hidden from a lead investigator in 2018. 

Testifying in the proceedings against former Superintendent Raymond Aquilina, Yorgen Fenech, and notary Mario Bugeja, the former lead of the police’s Economic Crimes Unit, Ian Abdilla, recounted how Cutajar directly ordered him to bypass Aquilina.

Fenech stands accused of money laundering and complicity in the corruption of a public officer, while Aquilina is facing charges of corruption, leaking official secrets, money laundering and perjury. Both men, together with notary Mario Bugeja who is also charged with money laundering, have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“Deep discomfort”

Abdilla told Magistrate Lara Lanfranco on Friday that he was instructed to personally retrieve a Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) report concerning Melvin Theuma. According to Abdilla, Cutajar was explicit: the report was for his eyes only, and he was “not to hand it to Raymond Aquilina”.

Abdilla said that Cutajar’s order caused him deep “discomfort” as Aquilina was officially responsible for the anti-money laundering section of the Economic Crimes Unit. Abdilla testified that he repeatedly challenged the commissioner on the matter at the time, insisting that if there was a lack of trust in Aquilina, he should be removed from his post entirely. 

It emerged in court today that Aquilina had maintained a personal relationship with Fenech that was never officially declared. Abdilla testified that he later found out about the relationship through the media. 

The tension reached a breaking point just days before the high profile raid on Melvin Theuma, when Aquilina allegedly revealed intimate knowledge of the suspect’s medical history, claiming that Theuma was undergoing cancer treatment. The detail left Abdilla questioning how a sidelined investigator possessed such specific intelligence.

A cancelled meeting

The internal friction within the Economic Crimes Unit coincided with critical moments in the 17 Black Investigation, which officially began when the police opened the file in March 2018. Abdilla testified that after a newspaper report identified Yorgen Fenech as the owner of the mysterious UAE-registered company, he insisted on questioning the businessman immediately. 

At that point, disclosure laws had recently been introduced, requiring the police to challenge suspects under interrogation on the basis of evidence. Despite only having an FIAU report in hand – official bank documents had not yet been received from abroad – Abdilla argued that the public allegations were enough to warrant an interrogation. 

According to the testimony, an appointment was set up for Abdilla and Aquilina to meet Fenech at his own office, as instructed by then Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta. Abdilla believes that this meeting was arranged by Raymond Aquilina. 

However, the interrogation never took place. 

As the police team was driving toward the meeting, specifically as they approached the traffic lights near Paceville, they received a phone call informing them that Fenech “couldn’t speak to us because he was sick”. The meeting was aborted and Fenech was not arrested until much later, the witness said. 

While the financial probe into 17 Black stalled as Europol and Interpol requested rogatory letters, leading to the opening of a magisterial inquiry in September 2018, the Economic Crimes Unit was simultaneously navigating multiple investigations. Abdilla revealed that investigators were under “intense” pressure to move against Melvin Theuma, who was under investigation for financial crimes. 

Despite this pressure, Abdilla said that he and investigator Nicholas Vella, Aquilina’s subordinate, reportedly resisted a premature arrest. They argued that the FIAU report into Theuma’s activities, which they held at the time, was insufficient on its own to sustain his arrest. They insisted on waiting a few more weeks to gather more concrete evidence.

International scope

The scope of the investigation extended beyond Theuma and Fenech. The 17 Black investigation, which Aquilina was officially leading, included a list of high-profile “persons of interest,” including former Minister Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, Karl Cini, and Brian Tonna. 

To track the flow of money, the police had to engage in a lengthy international process, requesting rogatory letters, signed off by the presiding magistrate Charmaine Galea, to be sent to authorities in the UAE, Latvia, and Panama to track Fenech’s accounts. Abdilla confirmed that while some of these requests were successful, the investigation was often hindered by the requirement for formal translations and the refusal of foreign countries to share intelligence without official judicial requests. 

A question raised during the testimony concerned the official letters sent to the UAE to track one of Fenech’s accounts linked to 17 Black. Abdilla confirmed that there had been a “mistake” in some of these letters, for which Aquilina was responsible. When questioned by the prosecution, Abdilla admitted he was unsure if the error was a “genuine mistake or intentional”.

The court heard that Raymond Aquilina eventually handed over the 17 Black investigation files in April 2020 to inspectors Brian Paul Camilleri and Keith Vella.

Inspector Brian Paul Camilleri, a financial crimes investigator with the police and the lead investigator on this case, also took the witness stand on Friday. He confirmed the chronology of the investigation and the succession of investigators involved in the case.

In reply to a parliamentary question from MP Graham Bencini, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana revealed that the agreements will bring in €34,230,949 in taxes, alongside a further €3,044,161 in additional penalties imposed under a progressive rate schedule (15%, 20% or 25%, depending on the amount of tax owed).

The 11 agreements include both individuals and companies. No details were given on the individuals or entities that benefited from the mechanism.

As of 15 April 2026, 7 of the 11 agreements have been settled in full; two will be paid within six months, one within nine months, and another is subject to a structured payment programme spanning 12 years.

Caruana said that no tax or additional penalty imposed under the Act had been reduced. However, where taxpayers were eligible, partial remission of administrative penalties and interest was granted in line with existing policies.

Under the framework, introduced through Bill 142, taxpayers may enter into agreements with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs to regularise tax offences by paying penalties and outstanding dues, thereby avoiding criminal prosecution for the offences covered by the settlement.

The mechanism also applies to certain “connected breaches” and predicate offences linked to the tax offence, such as money laundering and fraud.

The bill was introduced and approved within 12 days in August 2025. It was tabled in Parliament on the same day as Bills 143 and 144, two parts of a controversial planning reform package that has since dominated public discourse and sparked protests.

Amphora Media has documented several high-profile beneficiaries of the mechanism, including: Christian Borg, a car dealer with ties to Prime Minister Robert Abela, charged in a €1.4 million tax evasion and money laundering case; Aron Mifsud Bonnici, a lawyer and former advisor to Konrad Mizzi, charged in a €1.6 million case and separately facing charges in the Vitals Hospitals case; and Nigel and Mikaela Scerri, the accountants behind the firm Ennesse, who were arraigned in January 2025 after authorities reportedly discovered a €1.5 million discrepancy in their tax and VAT declarations.

It is unclear whether the mechanism has been extended to any individuals or entities linked to the major tax fraud investigation involving a VAT carousel.

In 2023, it was reported that Martin Farrugia and Henriette Cassar were accused of defrauding the VAT system, allegedly to the tune of around €62 million.

The investigation, known as Operation Panthera, reportedly covers the period 2012–2019 and encompasses companies linked to the contractor — including NCCF, MAM Construction Ltd, and MWF Construction Ltd — which are said to have under-declared substantial sales and VAT payable.

The pair have pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing. 

Amphora Media has been informed that the police are aware of businesses involved in the scheme.

The investigation, published in March 2025, exposed the inner workings of two massive investment fraud networks operating out of call centres in Israel, Eastern Europe, and Georgia. Amphora Media’s contribution focused on Malta’s role in the scheme, revealing how Maltese-registered companies, OpenPayd, were key in transferring funds extracted from victims.

Drawing on an unprecedented leak of nearly two terabytes of data — thousands of hours of recorded calls, screen recordings, and internal spreadsheets — the reporting team documented how at least 32,000 people across the globe were deceived into handing over approximately €230 million in fraudulent “investments.”

More recently, two Turkish companies owned by Ozan Özerk, the founder of OpenPayd, were under investigation for facilitating the laundering of criminal assets.  This company is not under investigation in Türkiye.

Cristian Lupșa, Chair of the Preparatory Committee of the European Press Prize, said: “What stood out again this year is the quality of journalism being produced across Europe, in newsrooms large and small, often under pressure and with limited resources. The range of entries reflects something important: all stories have a place here, from large cross-border collaborations to deeply reported local pieces that matter enormously to the communities they serve. What these stories show, collectively, is that journalism still holds space for complexity, for context, and for human experience. It remains a source of understanding, accountability, and, in many ways, hope.”

You can read the full investigation here.

For years, the number of money-laundering prosecutions in Malta remained relatively modest. Figures tabled in parliament by Jonathan Attard, in response to questions from Adrian Delia, show that in 2018, only 12 individuals were charged, rising slightly to 14 in 2019. 

By 2024, however, that number had surged to 116 individuals across 44 cases – the highest level on record. In 2025, the figure dropped, falling to 61 individuals across 37 cases.

The shift came after Malta was placed on the FATF grey list in June 2021. Malta was removed from the list in June 2022 following rapid reforms. The FATF’s recommendations focused on the transparency of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), the effectiveness of anti-money laundering controls, and tax evasion investigations.

In 2020, standalone money-laundering cases were more common (27). However, cases accompanied by a predicate offence – which is the separate criminal act that generated the illicit funds – have increased. 

In 2021, cases accompanied by predicate offences were 87, up from just 1 in the previous year. By 2024, 114 cases were tied to predicate offences. In 2025, that number was 61. 

The Minister’s breakdown of predicate offences identifies fraud as the primary driver of money laundering proceedings, accounting for 77 instances.

This is followed closely by: Misappropriation (39), Aggravated drug possession (17), Corruption (13), Drug Trafficking (12), Tax Evasion (11) and Organised Crime (11).

Just as these complex, multi-charge cases peak, Malta has enacted Bill 142, which introduces a formal mechanism for out-of-court settlements for breaches of Malta’s tax laws and related crimes.

The bill was introduced and approved over 12 days in August 2025. It was tabled in Parliament on the same day as Bills 143 and 144, two parts of a controversial planning reform package that has since dominated public discourse and sparked protests.

So far, lawyer Aron Mifsud Bonnici, car dealer Christian Borg, and accountants Nigel and Mikaela Scerri have used the settlement mechanism in their respective million-euro tax-evasion and money-laundering proceedings.

Malta already has a significant problem with uncollected taxes. Official figures show that as of 2024, Malta has accumulated over €8 billion in uncollected tax, €6.1 billion in VAT and €2 billion in other taxes. The government has written off over €6.6 billion of that figure.

Under this framework, taxpayers may enter into agreements with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs to regularise tax offences by paying penalties and outstanding dues, thereby avoiding criminal prosecution for the offences covered by the settlement.

The mechanism also applies to certain “connected breaches” and predicate offences, linked to the tax offence, such as money laundering and fraud.

It is already being implemented. In reply to a series of parliamentary questions by MP Adrian Delia, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirmed that the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) has received several applications under the new law and is currently processing them. 

This will apply to all the 11 cases of tax evasion listed – and a host of other ongoing cases, including a €62 million VAT carousel fraud case.

Under this framework, taxpayers may enter into agreements with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs to regularise tax offences by paying penalties and outstanding dues, thereby avoiding criminal prosecution for the offences covered by the settlement.

The mechanism also applies to certain “connected breaches” and predicate offences, linked to the tax offence, such as money laundering and fraud.

The bill was introduced and approved over 12 days in August 2025. It was tabled in Parliament on the same day as Bills 143 and 144, two parts of a controversial planning reform package that has since dominated public discourse and sparked protests. 

These are the known cases so far:

Christian Borg:

• A car dealer who was charged in a €1.6 million tax evasion and money laundering case.
• Prime Minister Robert Abela is his former legal advisor and once profited from a 2018 property deal with him.
• The agreement also covers his co-accused, Monique Mizzi and Joseph Camenzuli, a former Labour Party photographer.
• Borg has also been charged with kidnapping in a previous case.

Aron Mifsud Bonnici:

• A lawyer who was charged in a €1.6 million tax evasion and money laundering case.
• Mifsud Bonnici received over €2.4 million in payments into his personal bank accounts between 2016 and 2019. However, during those same four years, Mifsud Bonnici declared a total income of €680,000.
• He is a former advisor to Konrad Mizzi.
• He has been separately charged in connection with the Vitals Hospitals case.

Nigel and Mikaela Scerri

• Accountants behind Ennesse, who were charged with tax evasion and money laundering in connection with €1.5 million in tax and VAT discrepancies.
• €15 million in assets frozen across 15 companies.
• The court found sufficient prima facie evidence for them to stand trial in February 2025.

Potential impact on ongoing cases: The VAT Carousel

• Martin Farrugia and Henriette Cassar have been accused of defrauding the VAT system by approximately €62 million.
• The case involves multiple companies, including NCCF, MAM Construction Ltd, and MWF Construction Ltd.
• The accused have pleaded not guilty, and proceedings are ongoing.
• Amphora Media is informed that authorities are aware of additional businesses linked to the scheme. However, there have been no further prosecutions.

In reply to a series of parliamentary questions by MP Adrian Delia, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirmed that the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) has received several applications under the new law and is currently processing them.

Caruana did not say whether any fines or sanctions have yet been imposed. He also declined to provide figures on the number of individuals or companies involved, the size of those companies, or the types of businesses concerned, referring the questions to the relevant minister.

Malta already has a significant problem with uncollected taxes. Official figures show that as of 2024, Malta has accumulated over €8 billion in uncollected tax, €6.1 billion in VAT and €2 billion in other taxes.  The government has written off over €6.6 billion of that figure.

Meanwhile, the FATF had expressly noted how Malta’s ability to fight tax evasion was one of the reasons the country was placed on the grey list to begin with – and was one of the three requirements to get off it. 

The pair, who are accountants behind the firm Ennesse,  were arraigned in January 2025 after authorities reportedly discovered a €1.5 million discrepancy in their tax and VAT declarations. 

Around €15 million of their assets – spread across 15 companies – were placed under a freeze order, while a court reportedly declared there was enough prima facie evidence for them to stand trial in February 2025.

Nigel and Mikaela Scerri chose not to comment on the outcome when contacted by Amphora Media.

The Scerris are the latest to make use of a new legal mechanism introduced under Bill 142. These include: Christian Borg, a car dealer with ties to Prime Minister Robert Abela, charged in a  €1.4 million tax evasion and money laundering case; and Aron Mifsud Bonnici, a lawyer and former advisor of Konrad Mizzi, charged in a 1.6 million case and who is separately facing charges in the Vitals Hospitals case.

Under this framework, taxpayers may enter into agreements with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs to regularise tax offences by paying penalties and outstanding dues, thereby avoiding criminal prosecution for the offences covered by the settlement.

The mechanism also applies to certain “connected breaches” and predicate offences, linked to the tax offence, such as money laundering and fraud.

It is being implemented elsewhere. In reply to a series of parliamentary questions by MP Adrian Delia, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana confirmed that the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) has received several applications under the new law and is currently processing them. 

The law could also have significant implications for a major tax fraud investigation involving a VAT carousel. 

In 2023, it was reported that Martin Farrugia and Henriette Cassar were accused of defrauding the VAT system, allegedly to the tune of around €62 million.

The investigation, known as Operation Panthera, reportedly covers the period 2012–2019 and encompasses companies linked to the contractor (including NCCF, MAM Construction Ltd, and MWF Construction Ltd), which are said to have under-declared substantial sales and VAT payable.

The pair have pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing. Amphora Media has been informed that the police are aware of businesses involved in the scheme, but all have so far evaded prosecution. 

Amphora Media has reached out to the police over the issue.