{"id":141290,"date":"2020-07-09T09:22:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T16:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=141290"},"modified":"2020-07-09T11:55:29","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T18:55:29","slug":"no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/","title":{"rendered":"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder, Says Victim\u2019s Son"},"content":{"rendered":"

A wealthy Maltese casino owner accused of complicity in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia should not be granted leniency if found guilty, the victim\u2019s son said this week.<\/p>\n

\"Caruana
Yorgen Fenech (left) with his lawyer after he was charged with complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia last November. (Image: Yara Nardi\/Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yorgen Fenech<\/a> is currently on trial for the murder of Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in 2017 while she investigated high-level corruption among Malta\u2019s political classes. The murder garnered international media attention at the time.<\/p>\n

Fenech is the former CEO of Tumas Gaming, Malta\u2019s biggest land-based casino operator. He was arrested on November 20 last year as he tried to flee Malta on his yacht.<\/p>\n

Fenech was named as the \u201cmastermind\u201d behind the scheme by a middleman<\/a> who recruited the men who planted the bomb. But Fenech claims the murder was devised and directed by others — including those who held positions in government at the time — who were part of a \u201cMafia network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mafia Web<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In November, Fenech\u2019s lawyers filed a request for a presidential pardon in return for him spilling the beans. But this was rejected by the government.<\/p>\n

But Mark Anthony Sammut, head of Malta\u2019s nationalist party, said this week it was time to revisit the idea of a pardon or a reduced sentence so that the \u201cweb of Mafia connections in politics\u201d can be exposed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the pain of seeing someone who seems to be a crucial pawn in a plot to kill a mother not pay the full price of what he did, I believe that much greater justice will be done to Daphne Caruana Galizia if, instead of catching one pawn, the whole of web of criminals in power is held to account. And all the millions these projects took are returned to the people,\u201d Sammut told Lovin’ Malta.<\/em><\/p>\n

But Matthew Caruana Galizia rejected the suggestion, writing in a Facebook post this week that the investigation should focus above all on finding justice for his mother.<\/p>\n

“Our goal is not to put X and Y politicians in jail,\u201d<\/strong> he wrote. \u201cIt is to achieve justice. Some politicians do have to go to jail along the way. But when they do, it will be as a side effect of the justice process, and not the end goal.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Government Downfall<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The case has already brought down the government of former prime minister Joseph Muscat, who resigned at the beginning of the year amid criticism of his handling of the case and the entanglement of three members of his inner circle in the affair.<\/p>\n

Muscat\u2019s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, tourism minister Konrad Mizzi, and economic minister Chris Cardona all resigned in the wake of Fenech\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

Before her death, Schembri and Mizzi were linked by Caruana Galizia to two offshore shell companies that were later discovered to be expecting a $2 million payment from a Dubai-based company called 17 Black, which was controlled by Fenech.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2013, Fenech was awarded a $500 million contract to build a power station in Malta, a project that was devised and promoted by Mizzi.<\/p>\n

In court testimonies, Fenech has implicated Schembri as the mastermind behind the murder and claimed he tried to frame Cardona for the crime.<\/p>\n

Schembri has been questioned by police but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A wealthy Maltese casino owner accused of complicity in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia should not be granted leniency if found guilty, the victim\u2019s son said this week. Yorgen Fenech is currently on trial for the murder of Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in 2017 while she investigated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":141292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNo Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-09T16:22:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-09T18:55:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/\",\"name\":\"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-09T16:22:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-09T18:55:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Yorgen Fenech (left) with his lawyer, after he was charged with complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia last November. (Image: Yara Nardi\/Reuters)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crime & Scandals\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder, Says Victim\u2019s Son\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder","description":"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder","og_description":"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-07-09T16:22:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-09T18:55:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/","name":"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-09T16:22:18+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-09T18:55:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Yorgen Fenech, casino owner accused of killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia, does not deserve clemency, says murdered journalist\u2019s son, Matthew.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/fenech.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Yorgen Fenech (left) with his lawyer, after he was charged with complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia last November. (Image: Yara Nardi\/Reuters)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/no-pardon-for-maltese-casino-mogul-accused-of-journalist-murder-says-victims-son\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crime & Scandals","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"No Pardon for Maltese Casino Mogul Accused of Journalist Murder, Says Victim\u2019s Son"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141290"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}