Malta Tycoon Stands Trial For Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s 2017 Assassination

Nearly nine years after a car bomb killed the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the jury trial of Yorgen Fenech, the businessman accused of ordering her assassination, has begun on Wednesday in Valletta.

The trial, one of the most consequential in modern Maltese history, is expected to last several weeks. 

On 16th October 2017 at 14:58, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, was murdered in a car bomb near her home which lies on the outskirts of the city Mosta. The bomb was placed under the driver’s seat of the vehicle. It was detonated remotely by SMS.

Five individuals, George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio, Vince Muscat, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, have all been found guilty for their roles in the murder. Meanwhile, Yorgen Fenech, one of Malta's most powerful businessmen, denies any involvement and has pleaded not guilty. 

Fenech was arrested on 20th November 2019, after authorities intercepted his yacht as he allegedly attempted to flee Malta by sea. Ten days later, he was arraigned before the Court of Magistrates, charged with complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia and with promoting, organizing, or financing a criminal organization under Maltese law.

He was held at the Corradino Correctional Facility for more than five years before being granted bail on January 24, 2025, by Justice Edwina Grima. The release came after his pre-trial detention exceeded Malta's statutory 30-month limit. Bail was set under strict conditions, including an 80,000 euro deposit, a 120,000 euro personal guarantee, a daily police-signing requirement, a curfew, and 24-hour surveillance.

His aunt, Moira Fenech, acted as guarantor, pledging her shares in Maltese conglomerate Tumas Group as collateral. The court's decision drew swift condemnation of the justice system from the Caruana Galizia family and press-freedom advocates, who denounced it as a failure of the Maltese justice system.

Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman, was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for testifying about Fenech's and others' involvement in the killing. Prosecutors allege that Theuma maintained a close relationship with Fenech and that the tycoon ordered and financed the assassination.

However, Fenech denies the prosecution's allegations. In a statement to police, he accused Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, of being the true mastermind behind the killing.

Vincent Muscat, one of the three hitmen who carried out the assassination, is scheduled to testify in the upcoming trial. Muscat pleaded guilty to his role in the killing and is serving a reduced 15-year prison sentence.

In October 2022, brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio pleaded guilty midway through their trial and were each sentenced to 40 years in prison and fined 50,000 euro. The Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the verdict in November 2023.

In June 2025, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were found guilty of complicity in the murder for supplying the military-grade explosives used in the attack, receiving life sentences. An appeals court in January 2026 rejected their bid to overturn the convictions and sentences.

Judge Grima, who granted Fenech bail in January 2025, presided over both trials.

Fenech sits behind one of Malta's most powerful business conglomerates, the Tumas Group, with interests spanning energy, gaming, hospitality and property development. He resigned his directorship shortly after his arrest in 2019.

Tumas Group is also a shareholder in ElectroGas, a consortium that includes the Azeri state energy company Socar, which was selected by the state utility, Enemalta, to build and operate a gas-fired power station in Malta. Tumas holds its shares through Gem Holdings, a joint venture between the conglomerate and Maltese firm Gasan.

An investigation by Reuters and the Times of Malta in 2018 identified Fenech as the owner of 17 Black, a Dubai-based company. A leaked email had named 17 Black as one of two intended sources of income for two Panama-registered companies, Tillgate and Hearnville, set up by the accountancy firm Nexia BT for then-minister Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. 

17 Black sits at the centre of separate criminal proceedings against Fenech, Mizzi, Schembri and others, concerning money laundering, corruption of public officials, trading in influence and criminal association. Several associated companies, including 17 Black, are also charged.

Caruana Galizia had referred to 17 Black in a blog post in February 2017, without naming its owner.