November 20, 2024 • 42 mins
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat throws himself a birthday party, attended by none other than the alleged mastermind of Daphne’s murder. But can his money and influence protect him after all?
Crooks Everywhere is a production of iHeartPodcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
The voice of Daphne Caruana Galizia is played by Sienna Miller.
The senior producer is Leo Hornak. The producer is Maddie Hickish.
The executive producers are: Christy Gressman for Topic Studios; Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore for iHeart Podcasts; Johnny Galvin and Daniel Turcan for Vespucci; and Sienna Miller.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A note to listeners, this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The fight against corruption and the decimation of the rule
of law must continue. Malta is in a dangerous place,
and now we can no longer say that it is
corrupt politicians who have brought it to this point, for
it can no longer be denied that these corrupt politicians
are a reflection of society.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Abomi nineteen February twenty nineteen, nearly eighteen months since Daphanese's murder,
and tonight's a party is in full swing.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
At this point, it's been four months since Jurgen Fanek,
mister alleged Mastermind, was publicly identified as the owner of
seventeen Black, a company which planned to make two million
dollars worth of secret payments to government ministers. At this point,
two mister Finnick is now a suspect in the official
police investigation into Dapanese murder. Secretly watched by police, mister
(01:09):
Fennick is also being discussed at the highest level of government.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
But if Malta is in a political crisis, you wouldn't
know it on this night. Instead, here in the elegant
seventeenth century Gaginti Palace, the official country residence of the
Multese Prime Minister. A small birthday party is on the
way and it looks like it's going pretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Tonight, Prime Minister Joseph Mouscat is forty five years old
and he's celebrating. This is a leaked video from the night.
You can see the Prime Minister and his wife leading
the singing of an old Maltese political song with lyrics
adapted to be about the birthday boy.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Joseph Moscot is grinning from his ear, bouncing up and
down in front of the crowd, hand pumping the air.
His wife, Michelle, elegantly dressed, stands by him, waving a
bottle of champagne. It's clear everyone is having a great time.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And why shouldn't they at this point. Joseph Moscatt is
one of the most successful politicians in modern Maltese history,
elected to office twice, but this will be the last
birthday he will spend in Grigeni Bellis.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
By the end of this year, his government will have
fallen and Joseph Muscat will have resigned in disgrace, brought
down by the aftermath of Daphne's murder and the corruption
scandals that led to it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And there's another reason this throughout the forty something birthday
party is memorable.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
He doesn't pop up in the leak video, but there's
someone else here at the Palace tonight, Jogan Fennik, mister
alleged mastermind. In spite of all the recent events, he's
been invited to this intimate birthday gathering for the Prime
Minister's closest friends and relatives.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And as Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is well aware of
Jurgen Fenec's role and the scandal that has shaken his
government to its core. That scandal is the main reason
why he has to repeatedly deny that his government has
a problem with corruption. Definitely would have said this makes sense.
She believed that Malta's current crop of politicians, and this
Prime Minister in particular, fundamentally don't see why corruption in
(03:28):
public life is a problem. So long as it is
kept secret. Why does it matter if minister has received
secret payments from rich entrepreneurs and businessmen. It's none of
your business. And the Prime Minister is also well aware
that Phenek is also now a suspect in Malta's most
famous murder.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Case, and yet here he is at the Prime Minister's birthday.
Any applications for pardons or plea deals for people arrested
in the murder case will have to be personally signed
off by the Prime Minister and his cabinet, and on
this evening, according to press reports, Jogan Fennec makes sure
(04:06):
to leave a good impression with the Prime Minister. His
birthday presence for mister Muscat is thoughtful, personal and very expensive.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yogen Fennec hence over three rare vintage bottles of Petrus
red wine from France, one of the most expensive wines
in the world. One bottle is from the air of
Joseph Mousquart's birth, the other two are from the air
of Mouscat's twin daughter's birth. Total estimated resale value of
more than six thousand US dollars. Malta's Ministerial Code forbids
(04:38):
ministers from accepting gifts which quote might be deemed to
create an obligation, real or imaginary.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's worth repeating. All applications for pardons or plea deals
for people arrested in the Daphne murder case will have
to be personally signed off by Joseph Muscat and his cabinet,
and it's also worth repeating a at this point, Yogen
Fenek is suspected of commissioning the hits against Daphne Please
(05:06):
yet to be arrested.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Prime Minister Joseph Mosquat will later claim that he never
met Jurgen Fenek in February twenty nineteen. Later still, he
will admit that Fenek was at the birth day party,
but claimed that the invitation was signed off by law
enforcement as part of a policy of acting normally towards
Fenek to avoid arousing his suspicion. Acting normally in this
(05:30):
case includes accepting thousands of dollars worth of gifts from
a man known for bribing politicians. Asked about his birthday
party in an interview with The Times of Malta, Joseph
Mosquat said, quote on the Gurghanty event, the invite was
issued following consultations with the Malta Security Services. This is
(05:50):
not the first time I have been slandered with false
accusations and even evidence which at the end it transpired
to be fabricated. I am denying all these unfounded alegations,
including this latest figurement of someone's very vivid imagination, and.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
On this night, another man allegedly involved in Daphne's murder
isn't that far away from the party either. Melvin the
middleman Jorgan Fennik needed a lift to and from the
Gagerti Palace, and so Melvin himself acted as chauffeur on
the night. While the alleged architect of Daphnese's murder is
(06:27):
partying with the Prime Minister, his middleman is waiting outside
in the car park.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Welcome to Malta from iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
I'm Manuel Delia and I'm John Sweeney and this is
Crooks Everywhere, Episode nine, Escape.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
By Yacht, So You're going. Is one of MARTA's richest men.
He is one of the bosses of the Hilton chain and.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Malta Hermann Greek, the editor in chief of the Times
of Malta.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
He kept pretty much of a low profile and you know,
not many people knew him before his name cropped up
in connection with the murder.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Photographs of Jorgen Fennek show at all six to four
or more muscular guy bald, something of the well dressed
FuG about him with a taste for designer sunglasses.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
A cartoon image of a mafioso.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And he is a person who he was very close
to many people and governments, and this came across from
follow up investigations we carried out, and it showed that
he had he used his contacts in governments for his er.
(08:03):
You know, I wouldn't say, I need to be careful
how to word this, but he definitely uses contacts in governments.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Which is one way of explaining Jorgen fennex presence at
the Prime Minister's bash at Gagenti Palace. But by the
time of that party, Jorgen Fennex world is already in
free full By now, his contacts may also have tipped
him off that he's being watched as a suspect in
(08:33):
Daphne's murder. It's not clear if he knows this or not,
but he is under surveillance and his phone is being tapped.
And then there is a problem that the men that
he allegedly hired to organize Daphanese's murder are also beginning
to crack.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
As we know, the team of contract killers that killed
Dephanie have already been arrested and are awaiting trial. Jurgen
Fenex's access to secret information about the investigation was insufficient
to stop that happening. One of them, Vincent Dekough, has
now begun talking to the police in the hope of
a plea deal or pardon. Jurgen Finex's old friend, Melvin,
(09:16):
the middleman in the crime, has also begun to fold
under the pressure, depressed, drinking too much and sometimes suicidal.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
A few months before the Prime Minister's birthday party, that
situation reaches breaking point. Melvin admits to Phenek that he
has been secretly recording all their conversations about the murder
and the cover up. He admits that he's betrayed him.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Probably Also around the same time, Melvin gives Fenek a
copy of a letter. It's one page long and all
in capital letters, and it's from the heart. In party reads.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Ji A Melvin telma At not ill informatio. I Melvin
Teoma am providing this information that I was the middleman
in the case concerning Miss Karwana Galicia. I am relaying
this proof so that you will know who hired me
and paid for the body in Bomba. I am doing
this because I realized that these two people Jurgen Finek
and Keach Cambriel Cosco were working to get rid of
(10:20):
me as well. So I prepared this proof so that
if I am eliminated, you will know the entire storya Cola.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's a confession but also a threat. Melvin the Middleman
is cashing in his insurance policy. He wants Jurgen Finek
to know that at any time he could take any
of these materials to the police. In fact, Melvin has
no evidence that Keach Cambri paid for Daphni's murder or
is planning to kill him, but he does know that
(10:48):
Cambri is close to Urgen Finek, and it was Cambri
who organized Melvin's imaginary government job.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
The message is clear, kill me now if you like,
but the truth will get out, and if I die,
you will be the main suspect.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We don't know exactly how Fannek responds initially what this
moment of complete betrayal feels like. During their decades of friendship,
the years at the racetrack, the shared hobbies and gambling holidays,
Melvin the Middleman has always had the junior, more submissive
role in the relationship, the grateful helper, hoping for favors,
(11:31):
driving mister Fanneck around Malta, dropping off gifts of food,
or laying racing bats for him, or allegedly hiring hitman
to kill a journalist. Now Melvin is reversing all of that,
telling one of the richest men in Malta that he
too has power and that he shouldn't be taken for granted.
(11:53):
That he is prepared to bring them both down if
he needs to, not the kind of thing that most
friendships can weather. But whatever each of them are thinking
at this time, they continue to work together and to communicate.
Fennec continues to pass on secret information about the police investigation.
(12:13):
For his part, Melvin doesn't yet carry out his threat
of sharing his archive of evidence with the authorities. At
the same time, he continues to do favors for Jorgan Fanec,
like driving him to the Gurganty birthday party and so.
On the surface, it seems as though nothing has changed
between them, but we now know that soon after Jorgan
(12:35):
alleged mastermind, Fanec has other things on his mind.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Two grenades, two glock pistols, two machine guns, a scorpion
which is a type of rifle, and eight hundred bullets
together with Silence, says for the pistols, this is interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Jason as a party, Daphnese family's lawyer has a shopping
list of some of the things that organ Phenac tries
to buy on the Dark Web. This weapon's buying spree
comes a few weeks after the organ Phenic discovers that
Melvin the Middleman has been secretly taping their incriminating conversations
on the iPhone in his sock. In fact, that particularly
(13:27):
for weapon buying spree doesn't work, those purchases are blocked,
but others are not.
Speaker 6 (13:34):
And in another separate purchase, Fennek had received an email
assuring him that a twenty gram shipment of potessium cyanite
had been shipped to him that particular morning. Potessium cyanide
it's a chemical that releases a highly toxic gas.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
To be clear, we don't know what Phanek has in mind,
or whether he has anyone in mind when he tries
to buy these things. The Dark Web weapons buying spree
happens in November twenty eighteen, a year after Daffie's murder
and around the time that The Times of Malta revealed
he was the owner of seventeen Black. What we do
know is that Melvin the middleman certainly fears for his life.
(14:15):
He must worry that even his archive of secret recordings
won't be enough to keep him safe from Urgen Fennec.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
I am more than sure that he wanted to get
ridol melventeoma. No doubt getting rid of Melventella would have
removed the link between Rinel Fedec mastermind and the de Georgios,
ensuring his impunity.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
But the sheer number of deadly weapons organ Fennec is
attempting to buy is also suggestive.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
I have no doubt, I am morally convinced, not just me,
that those purchases were made to assassinate a number of people,
including Melvin Tema. So eight hundred bullets, rifles, pistols, grenades
were definitely not for one person. The poetassium cyanide twenty
(15:03):
grams twenty grams are more than enough, more than enough
to kill two people at the least.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Whatever the purpose of these gruesome purchases, they suggest that
Jurgen Phenec fees things are rapidly moving towards a crisis.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
The situation with Melvin is on a knife edge. The
Daphne projects. Journalists are closing in and the multi police
are now watching the movements of Jugen Fennec and Melvin
the Middleman, and they're tapping Jugen Fenex's phone. The evidence
for their involvements in Daphne's murder keeps on mounting.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And the strain of it all is showing on organ
phenac tool. As his cocaine habit drastically increases, people start
to notice him acting erratically, but.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
The key moment of crisis doesn't come. Instead of arrests
or poisoning by potassium cyanide, there is a strange, uneasy
stalemate for nearly a year. It seems as though, for
a while longer the wealth and influence of Jurgen Fennek
is still enough to hold off the consequences of his
(16:09):
alleged crime.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Still, no more arrests in the investigation into Dafanie's murder.
Melvin the Middleman remains at large and afraid for more
these anti corruption campaigners like myself, this period is one
of the real low points after Dafni's death. As journalists,
we know the police knew about Melvin the Middleman. We
(16:32):
know they know about Jurgen Fennek. We keep that knowledge
to ourselves not to tip off suspects. But as months
roll by, it feels more and more like we are
being complicit in some conspiracy to let those with money
and contacts to live above the law.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Deafhnely's son Matthew becomes so frustrated at the failure to
arrest Melvin the middleman, but he says he's attempted to
start spray painting Melvin's name on wolves just to gain
a reaction.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It feels as if Daphne's murder will become like so
many other contract killings in Malta, unsolved and eventually quietly forgotten.
At this time as well, the second half of twenty nineteen,
John and I are also writing Murder on the multa
express our book on Daphne's death, co written with mafia
(17:24):
expert Carlo Bonini. Ahead of publication, we ask Jurgen Fanek
via his lawyers to comment on allegations that he and
his company, the Tomask Group Limited, are involved in illegal activity,
and we name Jurgen Fanec as one of a number
of possible culprits in Daphne's murder. His lawyers write back
(17:45):
to us to say, in part.
Speaker 7 (17:47):
Mister Finnick categorically rejects any allegations, assertions and auth suggestions
made in his regard as completely baseless and unfounded.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
We also receive legal threats from his lawyers trying to
dissuade us from publishing. We later discover that Fanek makes
inquieties with a London law firm to sue me for
a round seventy million UK pounds around eighty nine million dollars,
Like I'll ever have that money to pay them by loose.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Frustration is also building at another point because investigators from
other European countries have been brought in to help find
Japanese killers. Europot is now involved.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That's the agency that coordinates different European police forces when
their investigations take them across borders.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Investigators there learn about Melvin the Middleman's role and about
his archive of secret recordings, and they are incredulous that
he still remains at large. Eventually, they threaten to walk
away from the case completely until action is taken, and
so at last, Multa's police hatch a plan for Melvin's arrest.
(18:57):
The strategy is this take him down for money laundering initially,
rather than his role in Daphne's murder directly. The crackdown
will start dramatically with a surprise police raid, a search,
and Melvin the Middleman's arrest.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But perhaps not surprisingly, the underworld is more than ready
for this. News of the plan is leaked to Melvin
the Middleman well in advance, just as the original swat
rate to arrest Dephane's assassins at the Potato Chat had
been Jurgen Fannek and two of his goal betweens give
Melvin a precise date to expect the raid. He's given
(19:37):
a full month's warning. According to Melvin. They even promise
to list the areas in his property that will be searched,
so that he can tie the up and ensure nothing
incriminating is found. According to Daphne's son Paul's research, the
name of the arresting officer is also passed to Melvin
and the fact that he will be helpful.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
After the arrest. The interrogation will also be stage managed,
with questions and suggested answers being sent by contacts inside
the police to Melvin the Middleman well in advance. Like
a teasing student, Melvin has been given a chance to
see the exam paper early until the best answers for
(20:28):
top marks.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
When the date of the surprise raid is rescheduled, Melvin
the Middleman is upset. He explains that the new date
is inconvenient, clashing with the prize draw for his illegal
lottery and costing him money. See if you can speak
to him so with it in two weeks, he suggested
to Jurgen Fanek, almost as if trying to postpone an
inconvenient work meeting or a dentist's appointment.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
And perhaps this is also a sign of how far
Melvin the Middleman has come, how the balance of power
in his relationship with you Organ Fennik, who has also
since he started collecting evidence of their crimes.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
In the event, Fanek has bad news, he says even
he has no way to stop or delay the arrest,
but he will try to lessen the disruption to Melvin's family.
Yogen Fennec also promises that Melvin the Middleman will be
bailed quickly and that Fennek himself will be waiting outside
the prison gates to meet him. Afterwards, they'll get snacks
(21:27):
to celebrate. He suggests the traditional multi spastries called pastizzi.
It will be a great reunion between old friends.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
But in order for Melvin to get all this support
and assistance, there's just one obstacle, one thing that he
needs to do first. Jason as a party later cross
examined Melvin the middle Man in court.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
He was repeatedly told to destroy the evidence he had
on Jurgenzhenek.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
It keeps on being mentioned. Jorgen Fhennic texts him asking
to ensure that before the arrest.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
Be one hundred percent everywhere is clean.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
And Thomas said, thankfully, I refuse to destroy the evidence
because it was thanks to those staves that I could
remain alive and eventually turn state witness.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
When the raid does happen, it takes place earlier than
the agreed date and with a different officer in charge.
Melvin's at the wheel and his car is suddenly cut
off by police vehicles. On the passenger seat is a
small ice cream box, which he grabs as he's being
taken in. Inside the box is a jumble of paper
(22:45):
and USB pen drives his precious evidence archive. And although
he's being arrested for money laundering, Melvin the Middleman is
so panicked or so relieved that he immediately says that
he wants to talk about.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Them, and with that the dam is broken. You're a
poll take charge of the ice cream box archive in
its contents. It's immediately put on a plane to the
Hague to avoid tampering. Melvin the middleman quickly applies for
a pardon for all his crimes in exchange for a
full confession. When Organ Phanic hears this, his own feelings
(23:24):
of panic and paranoia begin to spiral, perhaps accelerated by
drug use. He begins to work frantically on a new plan.
The alleged mastermind Thanak is now going on the run. First,
he and his brother relocate to a remote villa in
(23:44):
Malta to figure out the options. Organ Fane's personal doctor
overhears some of their discussions and later testifies about what
is said. Apparently, the conversation ranges widely, playing with ideas
for a place refuge, as though planning a package holiday Tunisia, France, Mexico, Dubai,
(24:06):
private jet, or exit by fishing boat. Each strategy has
its pros and its cons. Organ Fennec texts his uncle
about one concern. In translation, the text reads.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
If I pick it up in the EU, I'll end
up in Europol's hands.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Another message shows him agreeing with his brother that there
is no turning back now.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
It's probably better a why the ways you suggested and
leave for good.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Records also show Fenex desperately transferring huge sums of cash
around the world. At one point, he begins messaging a
pilot in a private jet company to see if he
can hire a plane. Jorgen Fanex's uncle warns against this,
a private jet is now too risky, the airport is
being watched. Better to leave in Fanex personal Yocht. The
same doctor describes Fanec as high during these discussions.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Eventually a plan of escape emerges, using multiple forms of transport,
crossing several countries in a few days.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
The escape plan is this, late at night, unobserved, Jurgen
Fannek will board his private yacht in the marina outside
his luxury apartment. He'll have large amounts of cash with
him and passports. The yachts captain will make for Pozzalo
in Sicily on the pretense that the boat needs repairs.
(25:31):
From Sicily, Fannek will travel by track to France. In Nice,
an untraceable car will be waiting for him, and from
there on to the next location. They agree that credit
cards are to be avoided too much of a security risk.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
The details sound wild and extravagant, a James Bond fantasy
of going on the run, but I don't think it
is far fetched. Venneck has a lot going for him
as a fugitive. He is used to having his wealth
stashed in anonymous companies and virtual pirate caves around the world,
and his wealth also has the potential to smooth over
(26:14):
many of the obstacles that fugitives might face.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
And then there's the question of who will chase him.
He knows that many in Molta's government and law enforcement
would rather never take the stand in a trial. Too
many people are too compromised by what he knows. It's
already proved hard enough bringing him to justice in Malta,
let alone from a place like Dubai or Mexico. So
(26:38):
the real question is can he first make it off
the island.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Just before five thirty am on the twentieth November twenty nineteen,
two years and a month after Daphnese murder, it's about
an hour before dawn. Organ Fennick is settling into one
of his two luxury yachts the Jot in the marina
his family owned in Portomasso. A few meters along the
(27:13):
quayside is the Blue Elephant Thai restaurant, shuttered for the night,
the same spot where he first sold Melvin the Middleman
his plan to murder Daphne. A little further along is
the entrance to the Portamasso Tower, the tallest building in
the country built by Fennox's family, where he owns a
(27:33):
penthouse apartment. A little further still is the Hilton Hotel
and the taxi concession stand once used by Melvin the Middleman,
but that is all in the past now. A hold
doll packed with euro banknotes lies in one corner of
the yacht. Suitcases with clothes are packed and ready in another.
(27:57):
The yacht edges slowly out of the marina.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Fanek spent part of the previous night deep in fon
conversation with Keach Cambri, his old school friend. Business a
lie and, according to Melvin the Middleman, the man who
has helped him cover up his involvement in Daphne's murder.
Schambrie was pleading for him not to leave, arguing that
everything could be sorted out if he stayed that it
(28:22):
will look bad if Fanek leaves. Now, apparently Keach Cambri
was also sending Prime Minister Joseph Muscat updates. Both of
them anxious that their friend might be dragging them towards
further political scandal and outrage.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
But just like Vincent Lekov and Melvin the Middleman before him,
Jogan Fannek now senses that above all he needs to
look out for himself. The rules of amoral feminism are
about to be broken again. Today is a day for
another day trial. He ignores the pleas of Keish Gambri,
(29:04):
saying that his lawyer has told him they will come
up with a narrative to explain his departure.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
As the jaw pulls out into open water, you can
see the lights of Malta's capital, Valletta on the horizon,
its ancient fortresses and palaces silhouetted out against the night sky.
Jurgen Fennek must know that if his plan succeeds, this
will be the last time he will see the skyline,
(29:31):
and the last time he will see Malta for many years,
and perhaps he won't even see his family for a
long time.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Before departure, the yachts captain warned Jogen Phannek, but the
journalists has been snooping around the marina, but later disappeared in.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
A boat like this. The southern coast of Sicily is
only a short trip away. They head northeast towards the
slowly lightning sky, no one to stop them. Perhaps it
seems to Jurgen Fennec that he is once again breaking
the rules that apply to other people and getting away
with it again.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
And then it appears a jot approaching fast behind them
from Malta. Perhaps Jurgen Fhenneic hopes at first that this
speedboat has nothing to do with him, but as it
gains he must at last see the military dark gray paint.
Then hear the loud hailo as they draw close that
(30:41):
journalist who'd been watching the marina had not left. He'd
call the police when the yacht pulled out of the harbor.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
When armed officers pull up alongside the jaw and poort
the vessel, they inform Urgen fhenneg that he is under
arrest in connection with the murder of journalist deaf Niicarwana.
Galizzia Fennek replies simply, Ahiarmela mussan do good.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
We should not belong then.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
We don't want to lightful light of Vignia, Northern Malta,
late twenty twenty three, nearly four years later, a hot,
dry Multise October. With all the high speed chases, gangster
betrayals and politically subterfuge, it can be easy to forget
(31:46):
the woman at the center of the story, but to
this day, her friends, family and supporters still mourn her.
This is the field where definitely was murdered, a field
with a view of the sea over rolling farmland. We're
not There's a small shrine in the center of the field,
at the spot where her burning car came to rest.
(32:08):
It's decorated with a picture of Daphne and a small
Maltese flag. Every year, on the anniversary of Daphne's death,
these people gather here, a group of her closest friends,
family and supporters, to mark her passing and remember her
life and achievements. Today is the sixth anniversary. The celebration
(32:30):
is open to all, but it is always led by women.
Speaker 9 (32:37):
I knew Daphne personally. Sons were the same age, and
we used to meet when we're young matters. I used
to read her blogs and I am distraught at the
state of our country, how our beautiful little island has
been completely ruined by corruption. And it's very very important.
(32:59):
That's what Daphne went through and even died for, is
very much there people's minds, you know.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
It's easy to switch off.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
Six years have gone by, and it's quite incredible that
everything she came out with it is even more true today.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
In the years since Daphane's death, some things have changed.
The government of Joseph Muscat collapsed after Jorgan Phenix's arrest,
pushed out by something close to a popular uprising.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Huge protests every couple of days, like nothing anyone in
the country had seen in living memory.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Officially, Joseph Muscat has retired from politics and he maintains
his innocence. For many people, his premiership will always be
associated with the corruption scandals that led to Daphne's assassination.
At the time of recording, Jorgan Fennick is behind bars
awaiting trial for compley in Daphne's murder. The de Giorgio brothers,
(34:03):
two of the three assassins, have been found guilty of
murder and sentenced to forty years in jail. The third assassin,
Vincent the Koff, was given a reduced sentence of fifteen
years for murder as part of the plea deal for
testifying against his accomplices. Robert Addeus and Jemmy Veller are
awaiting trial for supplying the bomb used in Daphne's murder.
(34:27):
Both men have pleaded not guilty. Melvin Delmer received a
pardon for his confession. On the twenty first of July
twenty twenty, a day before he was due to appear
in court to continue his testimony about Daphne's murder, police
were called to his home. He was found with multiple
stab wounds to his abdomen and a slip throat. He
(34:49):
was under official police protection at the time due to
fears for his safety. He survived and indicated that the
injuries were a suicide attempt. A chief of staff in
the office of the Prime Minister, Keith Schenbrie, stood down
from government soon after his friend Jogen Fennek was arrested.
Skembri himself was arrested and later released as part of
(35:13):
the murder investigation. In twenty twenty one, Keith Schenbrie was
separately charged with corruption and money laundering. Schmbrie denies all charges,
and proceedings in his cases are still ongoing at the
time of recording. In twenty twenty one, the US State
Department said that it was publicly designating Keithenbri and Conrand
(35:34):
Mitzi due to their involvements in significant corruption. That means
that both men and their immediate families are banned from
travel to the United States.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Chris Cardoona, the former minister whose last happy day in
politics was allegedly spent in a German brothel, has left politics,
although recently threatened to return. Why not, he said he
was never charged with involvement in the mayor there. Chris
Cardona did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
None of the three assassins Chinese George Georgia, Alfred the
Bean Georgia, or Vincent Leakoff Muscat responded to requests for
an interview for this podcast. Melvin the Middleman's representatives initially
agreed to consider our interview request, but eventually stop responding
to us. A representative of Jogen Finnik declined our requests
(36:28):
for an interview, searching his upcoming trial.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Conrad Amtsi did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Keach cambrideclined our request for an interview. Former Prime Minister
Joseph Mouscart's representative declined our request for an interview, with
the following message, Doctor Mouscart does not feel that mister
Delilla and mister Sweeney can in any way be considered
honest brokers in conveying a fair account of events. Some
(37:13):
things in Malta today have not changed. The Labor Party
remains in power. New corruption scandals involving huge sums of
money continue to be on earthed. The murder trial of
Jurgen Fennec has been repeatedly postponed, just as for Deafni
has been delayed again and again. The culture that Deafney
(37:35):
warned about that of two Maltas both so opposed and
divided that no shared national goals are possible. That continues.
The tendency towards a moral feminism, the abdication of all
moral obligations except loyalty to one's group, that also continues
in many instances. Officially, many of Deaphanie's allegations about corruption
(37:58):
and government are being investigated, but months and years roll by,
and hope of any outcome fates. But most of all, tragically,
people in Malta continue to fear the consequences of speaking
the truth in public. The freedom that Daphnie embodied is
still under threat, just as it was in this field
(38:18):
six years ago.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I always feel that she's almost more powerful. Her words
are more powerful beyond the grave, because we keep going
back to them, and we keep saying she was right.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
She was right.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
At the hour Daphne's murder took place, and the baking
afternoon sun, as birds circle overhead and the Mediterranean gleams
in the distance, the simple ceremony is held, beginning with
a shirt silence of remembrance. There is one entry in
(38:59):
duney blog that I often return to. It's a call
for her readers not to be downhearted, even when the
odds seem stacked against justice, fairness and truth. It was
posted just over four months before her death. When I
read it, I still hear her voice.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
June fifth, twenty seventeen. I know you don't have to
tell me. It's the reason I do it that this
website has, over the last four years become a gathering
post or rallying point for decent people who feel frightened
and threatened at the rise, growth, and spread of a morality.
(39:40):
You come here to feel normal in a sea of insanity.
You want reassurance that it is not you who is
in the wrong because you think people who do serious
wrong should not be in government. No, you are not
wrong because you think the police should act. No, you
are not wrong to feel sick when the mob cheers
a corrupt bea officer. Of course you are not. You
(40:03):
are right.
Speaker 8 (40:04):
Of course.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
It is wrong to vote for corruption. Of course. It
is wrong to vote so as to put corrupt politicians
into power. It is very wrong. The fight against corruption
and the decimation of the rule of law must continue.
There is something else I should say before I go.
When people taunt you or criticize you for being negative,
(40:29):
or for failing to go with their flow, for not
adopting an attitude of benign tolerance to their excesses, bear
in mind always that they, and not you, are the
ones who are in the wrong.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
Next time, In our final episode of our investigation into
the killing of Daphne Carojuana Galiticia, we look at the
latest developments in the murder trial of Jogen Fennek and
a corruption case against the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Crooks Everywhere is a production of iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios
and Vespucci. It's reported and hosted by me Manuel Delia
and John Sweeney. The senior producer is Leo Hornack. The
producer is Maddi Hikeish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
Acting direction by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikhail Basmajan
(41:57):
and Pierre Staffraj. The executive produce users are Johnny Galvin
and Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios,
Katina Norvel and Nikki Etoor at iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller.
Marketing leader is David Wassermann. Audio recording by Tom Berry
at Wardoor Studios. Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox.
(42:20):
Special thanks to Andrew Botchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles,
and Andrew Carwana Galizia
A note to listeners, this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The fight against corruption and the decimation of the rule
of law must continue. Malta is in a dangerous place,
and now we can no longer say that it is
corrupt politicians who have brought it to this point, for
it can no longer be denied that these corrupt politicians
are a reflection of society.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Abomi nineteen February twenty nineteen, nearly eighteen months since Daphanese's murder,
and tonight's a party is in full swing.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
At this point, it's been four months since Jurgen Fanek,
mister alleged Mastermind, was publicly identified as the owner of
seventeen Black, a company which planned to make two million
dollars worth of secret payments to government ministers. At this point,
two mister Finnick is now a suspect in the official
police investigation into Dapanese murder. Secretly watched by police, mister
(01:09):
Fennick is also being discussed at the highest level of government.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
But if Malta is in a political crisis, you wouldn't
know it on this night. Instead, here in the elegant
seventeenth century Gaginti Palace, the official country residence of the
Multese Prime Minister. A small birthday party is on the
way and it looks like it's going pretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Tonight, Prime Minister Joseph Mouscat is forty five years old
and he's celebrating. This is a leaked video from the night.
You can see the Prime Minister and his wife leading
the singing of an old Maltese political song with lyrics
adapted to be about the birthday boy.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Joseph Moscot is grinning from his ear, bouncing up and
down in front of the crowd, hand pumping the air.
His wife, Michelle, elegantly dressed, stands by him, waving a
bottle of champagne. It's clear everyone is having a great time.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And why shouldn't they at this point. Joseph Moscatt is
one of the most successful politicians in modern Maltese history,
elected to office twice, but this will be the last
birthday he will spend in Grigeni Bellis.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
By the end of this year, his government will have
fallen and Joseph Muscat will have resigned in disgrace, brought
down by the aftermath of Daphne's murder and the corruption
scandals that led to it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And there's another reason this throughout the forty something birthday
party is memorable.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
He doesn't pop up in the leak video, but there's
someone else here at the Palace tonight, Jogan Fennik, mister
alleged mastermind. In spite of all the recent events, he's
been invited to this intimate birthday gathering for the Prime
Minister's closest friends and relatives.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And as Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is well aware of
Jurgen Fenec's role and the scandal that has shaken his
government to its core. That scandal is the main reason
why he has to repeatedly deny that his government has
a problem with corruption. Definitely would have said this makes sense.
She believed that Malta's current crop of politicians, and this
Prime Minister in particular, fundamentally don't see why corruption in
(03:28):
public life is a problem. So long as it is
kept secret. Why does it matter if minister has received
secret payments from rich entrepreneurs and businessmen. It's none of
your business. And the Prime Minister is also well aware
that Phenek is also now a suspect in Malta's most
famous murder.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Case, and yet here he is at the Prime Minister's birthday.
Any applications for pardons or plea deals for people arrested
in the murder case will have to be personally signed
off by the Prime Minister and his cabinet, and on
this evening, according to press reports, Jogan Fennec makes sure
(04:06):
to leave a good impression with the Prime Minister. His
birthday presence for mister Muscat is thoughtful, personal and very expensive.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yogen Fennec hence over three rare vintage bottles of Petrus
red wine from France, one of the most expensive wines
in the world. One bottle is from the air of
Joseph Mousquart's birth, the other two are from the air
of Mouscat's twin daughter's birth. Total estimated resale value of
more than six thousand US dollars. Malta's Ministerial Code forbids
(04:38):
ministers from accepting gifts which quote might be deemed to
create an obligation, real or imaginary.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's worth repeating. All applications for pardons or plea deals
for people arrested in the Daphne murder case will have
to be personally signed off by Joseph Muscat and his cabinet,
and it's also worth repeating a at this point, Yogen
Fenek is suspected of commissioning the hits against Daphne Please
(05:06):
yet to be arrested.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Prime Minister Joseph Mosquat will later claim that he never
met Jurgen Fenek in February twenty nineteen. Later still, he
will admit that Fenek was at the birth day party,
but claimed that the invitation was signed off by law
enforcement as part of a policy of acting normally towards
Fenek to avoid arousing his suspicion. Acting normally in this
(05:30):
case includes accepting thousands of dollars worth of gifts from
a man known for bribing politicians. Asked about his birthday
party in an interview with The Times of Malta, Joseph
Mosquat said, quote on the Gurghanty event, the invite was
issued following consultations with the Malta Security Services. This is
(05:50):
not the first time I have been slandered with false
accusations and even evidence which at the end it transpired
to be fabricated. I am denying all these unfounded alegations,
including this latest figurement of someone's very vivid imagination, and.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
On this night, another man allegedly involved in Daphne's murder
isn't that far away from the party either. Melvin the
middleman Jorgan Fennik needed a lift to and from the
Gagerti Palace, and so Melvin himself acted as chauffeur on
the night. While the alleged architect of Daphnese's murder is
(06:27):
partying with the Prime Minister, his middleman is waiting outside
in the car park.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Welcome to Malta from iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
I'm Manuel Delia and I'm John Sweeney and this is
Crooks Everywhere, Episode nine, Escape.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
By Yacht, So You're going. Is one of MARTA's richest men.
He is one of the bosses of the Hilton chain and.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Malta Hermann Greek, the editor in chief of the Times
of Malta.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
He kept pretty much of a low profile and you know,
not many people knew him before his name cropped up
in connection with the murder.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Photographs of Jorgen Fennek show at all six to four
or more muscular guy bald, something of the well dressed
FuG about him with a taste for designer sunglasses.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
A cartoon image of a mafioso.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
And he is a person who he was very close
to many people and governments, and this came across from
follow up investigations we carried out, and it showed that
he had he used his contacts in governments for his er.
(08:03):
You know, I wouldn't say, I need to be careful
how to word this, but he definitely uses contacts in governments.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Which is one way of explaining Jorgen fennex presence at
the Prime Minister's bash at Gagenti Palace. But by the
time of that party, Jorgen Fennex world is already in
free full By now, his contacts may also have tipped
him off that he's being watched as a suspect in
(08:33):
Daphne's murder. It's not clear if he knows this or not,
but he is under surveillance and his phone is being tapped.
And then there is a problem that the men that
he allegedly hired to organize Daphanese's murder are also beginning
to crack.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
As we know, the team of contract killers that killed
Dephanie have already been arrested and are awaiting trial. Jurgen
Fenex's access to secret information about the investigation was insufficient
to stop that happening. One of them, Vincent Dekough, has
now begun talking to the police in the hope of
a plea deal or pardon. Jurgen Finex's old friend, Melvin,
(09:16):
the middleman in the crime, has also begun to fold
under the pressure, depressed, drinking too much and sometimes suicidal.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
A few months before the Prime Minister's birthday party, that
situation reaches breaking point. Melvin admits to Phenek that he
has been secretly recording all their conversations about the murder
and the cover up. He admits that he's betrayed him.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Probably Also around the same time, Melvin gives Fenek a
copy of a letter. It's one page long and all
in capital letters, and it's from the heart. In party reads.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Ji A Melvin telma At not ill informatio. I Melvin
Teoma am providing this information that I was the middleman
in the case concerning Miss Karwana Galicia. I am relaying
this proof so that you will know who hired me
and paid for the body in Bomba. I am doing
this because I realized that these two people Jurgen Finek
and Keach Cambriel Cosco were working to get rid of
(10:20):
me as well. So I prepared this proof so that
if I am eliminated, you will know the entire storya Cola.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's a confession but also a threat. Melvin the Middleman
is cashing in his insurance policy. He wants Jurgen Finek
to know that at any time he could take any
of these materials to the police. In fact, Melvin has
no evidence that Keach Cambri paid for Daphni's murder or
is planning to kill him, but he does know that
(10:48):
Cambri is close to Urgen Finek, and it was Cambri
who organized Melvin's imaginary government job.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
The message is clear, kill me now if you like,
but the truth will get out, and if I die,
you will be the main suspect.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
We don't know exactly how Fannek responds initially what this
moment of complete betrayal feels like. During their decades of friendship,
the years at the racetrack, the shared hobbies and gambling holidays,
Melvin the Middleman has always had the junior, more submissive
role in the relationship, the grateful helper, hoping for favors,
(11:31):
driving mister Fanneck around Malta, dropping off gifts of food,
or laying racing bats for him, or allegedly hiring hitman
to kill a journalist. Now Melvin is reversing all of that,
telling one of the richest men in Malta that he
too has power and that he shouldn't be taken for granted.
(11:53):
That he is prepared to bring them both down if
he needs to, not the kind of thing that most
friendships can weather. But whatever each of them are thinking
at this time, they continue to work together and to communicate.
Fennec continues to pass on secret information about the police investigation.
(12:13):
For his part, Melvin doesn't yet carry out his threat
of sharing his archive of evidence with the authorities. At
the same time, he continues to do favors for Jorgan Fanec,
like driving him to the Gurganty birthday party and so.
On the surface, it seems as though nothing has changed
between them, but we now know that soon after Jorgan
(12:35):
alleged mastermind, Fanec has other things on his mind.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Two grenades, two glock pistols, two machine guns, a scorpion
which is a type of rifle, and eight hundred bullets
together with Silence, says for the pistols, this is interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Jason as a party, Daphnese family's lawyer has a shopping
list of some of the things that organ Phenac tries
to buy on the Dark Web. This weapon's buying spree
comes a few weeks after the organ Phenic discovers that
Melvin the Middleman has been secretly taping their incriminating conversations
on the iPhone in his sock. In fact, that particularly
(13:27):
for weapon buying spree doesn't work, those purchases are blocked,
but others are not.
Speaker 6 (13:34):
And in another separate purchase, Fennek had received an email
assuring him that a twenty gram shipment of potessium cyanite
had been shipped to him that particular morning. Potessium cyanide
it's a chemical that releases a highly toxic gas.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
To be clear, we don't know what Phanek has in mind,
or whether he has anyone in mind when he tries
to buy these things. The Dark Web weapons buying spree
happens in November twenty eighteen, a year after Daffie's murder
and around the time that The Times of Malta revealed
he was the owner of seventeen Black. What we do
know is that Melvin the middleman certainly fears for his life.
(14:15):
He must worry that even his archive of secret recordings
won't be enough to keep him safe from Urgen Fennec.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
I am more than sure that he wanted to get
ridol melventeoma. No doubt getting rid of Melventella would have
removed the link between Rinel Fedec mastermind and the de Georgios,
ensuring his impunity.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
But the sheer number of deadly weapons organ Fennec is
attempting to buy is also suggestive.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
I have no doubt, I am morally convinced, not just me,
that those purchases were made to assassinate a number of people,
including Melvin Tema. So eight hundred bullets, rifles, pistols, grenades
were definitely not for one person. The poetassium cyanide twenty
(15:03):
grams twenty grams are more than enough, more than enough
to kill two people at the least.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Whatever the purpose of these gruesome purchases, they suggest that
Jurgen Phenec fees things are rapidly moving towards a crisis.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
The situation with Melvin is on a knife edge. The
Daphne projects. Journalists are closing in and the multi police
are now watching the movements of Jugen Fennec and Melvin
the Middleman, and they're tapping Jugen Fenex's phone. The evidence
for their involvements in Daphne's murder keeps on mounting.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And the strain of it all is showing on organ
phenac tool. As his cocaine habit drastically increases, people start
to notice him acting erratically, but.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
The key moment of crisis doesn't come. Instead of arrests
or poisoning by potassium cyanide, there is a strange, uneasy
stalemate for nearly a year. It seems as though, for
a while longer the wealth and influence of Jurgen Fennek
is still enough to hold off the consequences of his
(16:09):
alleged crime.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Still, no more arrests in the investigation into Dafanie's murder.
Melvin the Middleman remains at large and afraid for more
these anti corruption campaigners like myself, this period is one
of the real low points after Dafni's death. As journalists,
we know the police knew about Melvin the Middleman. We
(16:32):
know they know about Jurgen Fennek. We keep that knowledge
to ourselves not to tip off suspects. But as months
roll by, it feels more and more like we are
being complicit in some conspiracy to let those with money
and contacts to live above the law.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Deafhnely's son Matthew becomes so frustrated at the failure to
arrest Melvin the middleman, but he says he's attempted to
start spray painting Melvin's name on wolves just to gain
a reaction.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
It feels as if Daphne's murder will become like so
many other contract killings in Malta, unsolved and eventually quietly forgotten.
At this time as well, the second half of twenty nineteen,
John and I are also writing Murder on the multa
express our book on Daphne's death, co written with mafia
(17:24):
expert Carlo Bonini. Ahead of publication, we ask Jurgen Fanek
via his lawyers to comment on allegations that he and
his company, the Tomask Group Limited, are involved in illegal activity,
and we name Jurgen Fanec as one of a number
of possible culprits in Daphne's murder. His lawyers write back
(17:45):
to us to say, in part.
Speaker 7 (17:47):
Mister Finnick categorically rejects any allegations, assertions and auth suggestions
made in his regard as completely baseless and unfounded.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
We also receive legal threats from his lawyers trying to
dissuade us from publishing. We later discover that Fanek makes
inquieties with a London law firm to sue me for
a round seventy million UK pounds around eighty nine million dollars,
Like I'll ever have that money to pay them by loose.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Frustration is also building at another point because investigators from
other European countries have been brought in to help find
Japanese killers. Europot is now involved.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That's the agency that coordinates different European police forces when
their investigations take them across borders.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Investigators there learn about Melvin the Middleman's role and about
his archive of secret recordings, and they are incredulous that
he still remains at large. Eventually, they threaten to walk
away from the case completely until action is taken, and
so at last, Multa's police hatch a plan for Melvin's arrest.
(18:57):
The strategy is this take him down for money laundering initially,
rather than his role in Daphne's murder directly. The crackdown
will start dramatically with a surprise police raid, a search,
and Melvin the Middleman's arrest.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But perhaps not surprisingly, the underworld is more than ready
for this. News of the plan is leaked to Melvin
the Middleman well in advance, just as the original swat
rate to arrest Dephane's assassins at the Potato Chat had
been Jurgen Fannek and two of his goal betweens give
Melvin a precise date to expect the raid. He's given
(19:37):
a full month's warning. According to Melvin. They even promise
to list the areas in his property that will be searched,
so that he can tie the up and ensure nothing
incriminating is found. According to Daphne's son Paul's research, the
name of the arresting officer is also passed to Melvin
and the fact that he will be helpful.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
After the arrest. The interrogation will also be stage managed,
with questions and suggested answers being sent by contacts inside
the police to Melvin the Middleman well in advance. Like
a teasing student, Melvin has been given a chance to
see the exam paper early until the best answers for
(20:28):
top marks.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
When the date of the surprise raid is rescheduled, Melvin
the Middleman is upset. He explains that the new date
is inconvenient, clashing with the prize draw for his illegal
lottery and costing him money. See if you can speak
to him so with it in two weeks, he suggested
to Jurgen Fanek, almost as if trying to postpone an
inconvenient work meeting or a dentist's appointment.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
And perhaps this is also a sign of how far
Melvin the Middleman has come, how the balance of power
in his relationship with you Organ Fennik, who has also
since he started collecting evidence of their crimes.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
In the event, Fanek has bad news, he says even
he has no way to stop or delay the arrest,
but he will try to lessen the disruption to Melvin's family.
Yogen Fennec also promises that Melvin the Middleman will be
bailed quickly and that Fennek himself will be waiting outside
the prison gates to meet him. Afterwards, they'll get snacks
(21:27):
to celebrate. He suggests the traditional multi spastries called pastizzi.
It will be a great reunion between old friends.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
But in order for Melvin to get all this support
and assistance, there's just one obstacle, one thing that he
needs to do first. Jason as a party later cross
examined Melvin the middle Man in court.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
He was repeatedly told to destroy the evidence he had
on Jurgenzhenek.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
It keeps on being mentioned. Jorgen Fhennic texts him asking
to ensure that before the arrest.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
Be one hundred percent everywhere is clean.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
And Thomas said, thankfully, I refuse to destroy the evidence
because it was thanks to those staves that I could
remain alive and eventually turn state witness.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
When the raid does happen, it takes place earlier than
the agreed date and with a different officer in charge.
Melvin's at the wheel and his car is suddenly cut
off by police vehicles. On the passenger seat is a
small ice cream box, which he grabs as he's being
taken in. Inside the box is a jumble of paper
(22:45):
and USB pen drives his precious evidence archive. And although
he's being arrested for money laundering, Melvin the Middleman is
so panicked or so relieved that he immediately says that
he wants to talk about.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Them, and with that the dam is broken. You're a
poll take charge of the ice cream box archive in
its contents. It's immediately put on a plane to the
Hague to avoid tampering. Melvin the middleman quickly applies for
a pardon for all his crimes in exchange for a
full confession. When Organ Phanic hears this, his own feelings
(23:24):
of panic and paranoia begin to spiral, perhaps accelerated by
drug use. He begins to work frantically on a new plan.
The alleged mastermind Thanak is now going on the run. First,
he and his brother relocate to a remote villa in
(23:44):
Malta to figure out the options. Organ Fane's personal doctor
overhears some of their discussions and later testifies about what
is said. Apparently, the conversation ranges widely, playing with ideas
for a place refuge, as though planning a package holiday Tunisia, France, Mexico, Dubai,
(24:06):
private jet, or exit by fishing boat. Each strategy has
its pros and its cons. Organ Fennec texts his uncle
about one concern. In translation, the text reads.
Speaker 7 (24:19):
If I pick it up in the EU, I'll end
up in Europol's hands.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Another message shows him agreeing with his brother that there
is no turning back now.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
It's probably better a why the ways you suggested and
leave for good.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Records also show Fenex desperately transferring huge sums of cash
around the world. At one point, he begins messaging a
pilot in a private jet company to see if he
can hire a plane. Jorgen Fanex's uncle warns against this,
a private jet is now too risky, the airport is
being watched. Better to leave in Fanex personal Yocht. The
same doctor describes Fanec as high during these discussions.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Eventually a plan of escape emerges, using multiple forms of transport,
crossing several countries in a few days.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
The escape plan is this, late at night, unobserved, Jurgen
Fannek will board his private yacht in the marina outside
his luxury apartment. He'll have large amounts of cash with
him and passports. The yachts captain will make for Pozzalo
in Sicily on the pretense that the boat needs repairs.
(25:31):
From Sicily, Fannek will travel by track to France. In Nice,
an untraceable car will be waiting for him, and from
there on to the next location. They agree that credit
cards are to be avoided too much of a security risk.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
The details sound wild and extravagant, a James Bond fantasy
of going on the run, but I don't think it
is far fetched. Venneck has a lot going for him
as a fugitive. He is used to having his wealth
stashed in anonymous companies and virtual pirate caves around the world,
and his wealth also has the potential to smooth over
(26:14):
many of the obstacles that fugitives might face.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
And then there's the question of who will chase him.
He knows that many in Molta's government and law enforcement
would rather never take the stand in a trial. Too
many people are too compromised by what he knows. It's
already proved hard enough bringing him to justice in Malta,
let alone from a place like Dubai or Mexico. So
(26:38):
the real question is can he first make it off
the island.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Just before five thirty am on the twentieth November twenty nineteen,
two years and a month after Daphnese murder, it's about
an hour before dawn. Organ Fennick is settling into one
of his two luxury yachts the Jot in the marina
his family owned in Portomasso. A few meters along the
(27:13):
quayside is the Blue Elephant Thai restaurant, shuttered for the night,
the same spot where he first sold Melvin the Middleman
his plan to murder Daphne. A little further along is
the entrance to the Portamasso Tower, the tallest building in
the country built by Fennox's family, where he owns a
(27:33):
penthouse apartment. A little further still is the Hilton Hotel
and the taxi concession stand once used by Melvin the Middleman,
but that is all in the past now. A hold
doll packed with euro banknotes lies in one corner of
the yacht. Suitcases with clothes are packed and ready in another.
(27:57):
The yacht edges slowly out of the marina.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Fanek spent part of the previous night deep in fon
conversation with Keach Cambri, his old school friend. Business a
lie and, according to Melvin the Middleman, the man who
has helped him cover up his involvement in Daphne's murder.
Schambrie was pleading for him not to leave, arguing that
everything could be sorted out if he stayed that it
(28:22):
will look bad if Fanek leaves. Now, apparently Keach Cambri
was also sending Prime Minister Joseph Muscat updates. Both of
them anxious that their friend might be dragging them towards
further political scandal and outrage.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
But just like Vincent Lekov and Melvin the Middleman before him,
Jogan Fannek now senses that above all he needs to
look out for himself. The rules of amoral feminism are
about to be broken again. Today is a day for
another day trial. He ignores the pleas of Keish Gambri,
(29:04):
saying that his lawyer has told him they will come
up with a narrative to explain his departure.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
As the jaw pulls out into open water, you can
see the lights of Malta's capital, Valletta on the horizon,
its ancient fortresses and palaces silhouetted out against the night sky.
Jurgen Fennek must know that if his plan succeeds, this
will be the last time he will see the skyline,
(29:31):
and the last time he will see Malta for many years,
and perhaps he won't even see his family for a
long time.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Before departure, the yachts captain warned Jogen Phannek, but the
journalists has been snooping around the marina, but later disappeared in.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
A boat like this. The southern coast of Sicily is
only a short trip away. They head northeast towards the
slowly lightning sky, no one to stop them. Perhaps it
seems to Jurgen Fennec that he is once again breaking
the rules that apply to other people and getting away
with it again.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
And then it appears a jot approaching fast behind them
from Malta. Perhaps Jurgen Fhenneic hopes at first that this
speedboat has nothing to do with him, but as it
gains he must at last see the military dark gray paint.
Then hear the loud hailo as they draw close that
(30:41):
journalist who'd been watching the marina had not left. He'd
call the police when the yacht pulled out of the harbor.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
When armed officers pull up alongside the jaw and poort
the vessel, they inform Urgen fhenneg that he is under
arrest in connection with the murder of journalist deaf Niicarwana.
Galizzia Fennek replies simply, Ahiarmela mussan do good.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
We should not belong then.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
We don't want to lightful light of Vignia, Northern Malta,
late twenty twenty three, nearly four years later, a hot,
dry Multise October. With all the high speed chases, gangster
betrayals and politically subterfuge, it can be easy to forget
(31:46):
the woman at the center of the story, but to
this day, her friends, family and supporters still mourn her.
This is the field where definitely was murdered, a field
with a view of the sea over rolling farmland. We're
not There's a small shrine in the center of the field,
at the spot where her burning car came to rest.
(32:08):
It's decorated with a picture of Daphne and a small
Maltese flag. Every year, on the anniversary of Daphne's death,
these people gather here, a group of her closest friends,
family and supporters, to mark her passing and remember her
life and achievements. Today is the sixth anniversary. The celebration
(32:30):
is open to all, but it is always led by women.
Speaker 9 (32:37):
I knew Daphne personally. Sons were the same age, and
we used to meet when we're young matters. I used
to read her blogs and I am distraught at the
state of our country, how our beautiful little island has
been completely ruined by corruption. And it's very very important.
(32:59):
That's what Daphne went through and even died for, is
very much there people's minds, you know.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
It's easy to switch off.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
Six years have gone by, and it's quite incredible that
everything she came out with it is even more true today.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
In the years since Daphane's death, some things have changed.
The government of Joseph Muscat collapsed after Jorgan Phenix's arrest,
pushed out by something close to a popular uprising.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Huge protests every couple of days, like nothing anyone in
the country had seen in living memory.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Officially, Joseph Muscat has retired from politics and he maintains
his innocence. For many people, his premiership will always be
associated with the corruption scandals that led to Daphne's assassination.
At the time of recording, Jorgan Fennick is behind bars
awaiting trial for compley in Daphne's murder. The de Giorgio brothers,
(34:03):
two of the three assassins, have been found guilty of
murder and sentenced to forty years in jail. The third assassin,
Vincent the Koff, was given a reduced sentence of fifteen
years for murder as part of the plea deal for
testifying against his accomplices. Robert Addeus and Jemmy Veller are
awaiting trial for supplying the bomb used in Daphne's murder.
(34:27):
Both men have pleaded not guilty. Melvin Delmer received a
pardon for his confession. On the twenty first of July
twenty twenty, a day before he was due to appear
in court to continue his testimony about Daphne's murder, police
were called to his home. He was found with multiple
stab wounds to his abdomen and a slip throat. He
(34:49):
was under official police protection at the time due to
fears for his safety. He survived and indicated that the
injuries were a suicide attempt. A chief of staff in
the office of the Prime Minister, Keith Schenbrie, stood down
from government soon after his friend Jogen Fennek was arrested.
Skembri himself was arrested and later released as part of
(35:13):
the murder investigation. In twenty twenty one, Keith Schenbrie was
separately charged with corruption and money laundering. Schmbrie denies all charges,
and proceedings in his cases are still ongoing at the
time of recording. In twenty twenty one, the US State
Department said that it was publicly designating Keithenbri and Conrand
(35:34):
Mitzi due to their involvements in significant corruption. That means
that both men and their immediate families are banned from
travel to the United States.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Chris Cardoona, the former minister whose last happy day in
politics was allegedly spent in a German brothel, has left politics,
although recently threatened to return. Why not, he said he
was never charged with involvement in the mayor there. Chris
Cardona did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
None of the three assassins Chinese George Georgia, Alfred the
Bean Georgia, or Vincent Leakoff Muscat responded to requests for
an interview for this podcast. Melvin the Middleman's representatives initially
agreed to consider our interview request, but eventually stop responding
to us. A representative of Jogen Finnik declined our requests
(36:28):
for an interview, searching his upcoming trial.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Conrad Amtsi did not respond to our requests for an interview.
Keach cambrideclined our request for an interview. Former Prime Minister
Joseph Mouscart's representative declined our request for an interview, with
the following message, Doctor Mouscart does not feel that mister
Delilla and mister Sweeney can in any way be considered
honest brokers in conveying a fair account of events. Some
(37:13):
things in Malta today have not changed. The Labor Party
remains in power. New corruption scandals involving huge sums of
money continue to be on earthed. The murder trial of
Jurgen Fennec has been repeatedly postponed, just as for Deafni
has been delayed again and again. The culture that Deafney
(37:35):
warned about that of two Maltas both so opposed and
divided that no shared national goals are possible. That continues.
The tendency towards a moral feminism, the abdication of all
moral obligations except loyalty to one's group, that also continues
in many instances. Officially, many of Deaphanie's allegations about corruption
(37:58):
and government are being investigated, but months and years roll by,
and hope of any outcome fates. But most of all, tragically,
people in Malta continue to fear the consequences of speaking
the truth in public. The freedom that Daphnie embodied is
still under threat, just as it was in this field
(38:18):
six years ago.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
I always feel that she's almost more powerful. Her words
are more powerful beyond the grave, because we keep going
back to them, and we keep saying she was right.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
She was right.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
At the hour Daphne's murder took place, and the baking
afternoon sun, as birds circle overhead and the Mediterranean gleams
in the distance, the simple ceremony is held, beginning with
a shirt silence of remembrance. There is one entry in
(38:59):
duney blog that I often return to. It's a call
for her readers not to be downhearted, even when the
odds seem stacked against justice, fairness and truth. It was
posted just over four months before her death. When I
read it, I still hear her voice.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
June fifth, twenty seventeen. I know you don't have to
tell me. It's the reason I do it that this
website has, over the last four years become a gathering
post or rallying point for decent people who feel frightened
and threatened at the rise, growth, and spread of a morality.
(39:40):
You come here to feel normal in a sea of insanity.
You want reassurance that it is not you who is
in the wrong because you think people who do serious
wrong should not be in government. No, you are not
wrong because you think the police should act. No, you
are not wrong to feel sick when the mob cheers
a corrupt bea officer. Of course you are not. You
(40:03):
are right.
Speaker 8 (40:04):
Of course.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
It is wrong to vote for corruption. Of course. It
is wrong to vote so as to put corrupt politicians
into power. It is very wrong. The fight against corruption
and the decimation of the rule of law must continue.
There is something else I should say before I go.
When people taunt you or criticize you for being negative,
(40:29):
or for failing to go with their flow, for not
adopting an attitude of benign tolerance to their excesses, bear
in mind always that they, and not you, are the
ones who are in the wrong.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
Next time, In our final episode of our investigation into
the killing of Daphne Carojuana Galiticia, we look at the
latest developments in the murder trial of Jogen Fennek and
a corruption case against the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Crooks Everywhere is a production of iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios
and Vespucci. It's reported and hosted by me Manuel Delia
and John Sweeney. The senior producer is Leo Hornack. The
producer is Maddi Hikeish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
Acting direction by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikhail Basmajan
(41:57):
and Pierre Staffraj. The executive produce users are Johnny Galvin
and Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios,
Katina Norvel and Nikki Etoor at iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller.
Marketing leader is David Wassermann. Audio recording by Tom Berry
at Wardoor Studios. Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox.
(42:20):
Special thanks to Andrew Botchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles,
and Andrew Carwana Galizia
Hosts And Creators
Manuel Delia
John Sweeney
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