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6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off deal in Montenegro TIMES f 0-0~u

Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enemalta deal in Montenegro , say they had no knowledge of connection

National Politics 17 Black Enema Ita

3 days ago I Jacob Borg I 0 300

Yorgen Fenech. Photo: Mark Za mmit Cordina

Updated 9.55pn1

Murder suspect Yorgen Fenech secretly made a €4.6 million "profit" via his secret company 17 Black off Enemalta's decision to buy a wind farm in Montenegro, evidence uncovered by Times of Malta and Reuters shows.

Public records show Enemalta paid € 10.3 million to acquire the shares in the wind farm venture from a company called Cifidex on December 28, 2015. https://timesofmalta.co m/articles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enema lta-monteneg ro-deal-via-1 7- black. 799566 1/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enemalta deal in Montenegro However, just over two weeks before, Cifidex had bought those same shares for €2.9 million from Fersa Renovables, a Spanish consortium given a concession to run the wind farm by the Montenegro government in 2010.

The shares were bought from Fersa Renovables for a third of the price paid by Enemalta.

The evidence shows Cifidex funded the share purchase through a €3 million payment transferred by 17 Black to the company in late November 2015.

lS. ASSETS HELD FOR SALE

On 28 December 2015, Encmalta purchased 100% o ....'ltership of Mozura Wind Park (MWP) tor Eur!O 3 million Mozura Wind Park is a pri"ate limited liabtlity company incorporated m Montenegro. The Company was established for the sole purpose of the development and operation ofa 46MW capacity wind farm located in the Mozura/Uicinj region of Montenegro with an annual estimated gross production of 102 5 GWh

The purchase was completed by Enemalta to facilitate the transaction and the intention of the Board is to transfer the subsidi!II) to a related company (associate) in 2016 i.e. the Company never had the intention to operate the Company ttself and it was acqutred widt the intention to sell and accordingly this was classified as available for sale.

Jn April2016, an agreement was signed to sell the subsidiary.

Upon approval ofthe Government of Montenegro, the ownership will be transferred.

The Company considers the carrymg amount ofasset held for sale to be a reasonable estimate of its farr value pnnc1pally in view ofthe relatively short period bel'.Yeen the date of purchase and the reporting date (Leve12).

Enemalta's 2015 accounts state it paid €10.3 million for the Mozura wind farm shares.

By June 2016, Cifidex had sent back to 17 Black the original €3 million along with an additional "profit" of at least €4.6 million, three sources with access to 17 Black's banking records in Dubai have confirmed.

The timing of the December 2015 Montenegro deal coincides with an e-mail sent out by government advisers Nexia BT, mentioning how 17 Black would feed up to €2 million into offshore structures they set up for former Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and former OPM chief of staff .

Fenech, who was arrested in November and later charged with complicity in Daphne

Caruana Galizia's murde1~ did not respond to a request for con1111ent via his lawyers about the Montenegro deal.

The murder suspect resigned as a director of the Electrogas power station shortly before his arrest.

https :1/timesofmalta .co m/articles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enema lta-monteneg ro-deal-via-17- black. 799566 2/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enemalta deal in Montenegro

From: Karl Cini - Nexia BT fmailto:[email protected]] MainSu,: Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 10:09 AM For the R To: Juan Carlos Martinez - Executive ASSIStant particulat Cc: Luis QUtel - Lawyer Future Pf Subject: RE: TILLGATE INC/2461974/ HEARNVILLE INC./2461975/LQ/ JCm . It IS estirr Dear Juan Carlos Ktndly find below 1nformat10n requested Currency Activity products and/or services provided and importants events Euro and In essence the Panama companies w•ll be ellher used as holding companies or operational companies investmg or Initial De operating in the sectors of · Minimurr • Recycling !SOurce o· • Remote gaming Past profi • Infrastructure projects (project development in early stage followed by possible share holding- target Number • countries include African countnes, India and the Subcontinent) One or tv • Maritime and fi~heries (target country- Bangladesh) Amount• • Tourism (target country-Asia) Circa Eur It IS still to be determined whether the Panama compames w1llmvest (as holdmg companies) 10 operat1onal ent1t ies Names ol in the respectiVe jurisdictions where the above operations w1ll be earned out or else act as a project As t dical manager/consultant to these entities. Hence the revenue stream of the Panama entities will be either tn the form of dividends or direct service contracts with t hese operational entitles Estimate~ Current assets of the company in US$ Not envis The company has no assets for the time being It is a new setup and has not started trading yet. and agair last reported earning Name, co N/a. The company has not started trading yet. The bene M ain Clients Detailed The m m tar t cltents win be : To struct1 • 17 Black L1mlted (reg•sterecf ln Dubat) its benefi Regards • Macbridge limited (reg"tt"f~ 1n Dubal) Kart Cinl P11ttner I Ta

The Nexia BT e-mail naming 17 Black as one of the main sources of income for the Panama companies.

Enemalta said in a reply to a request for comment about the Montenegro Mozura Hill deal that the information "is being compiled and verified accordingly".

A Times of Malta freedom of information request for all of Enemalta's correspondence with Cifidex and its representatives was rejected on the basis of "trade secrets".

17 Black link to govern1nent officials

The e-mail mentioning 17 Black as a major source of funds for Schembri's and Mizzi's Panama cmnpanies was part of an application to open bank accounts for their secret offshore structures at the Winterbotham Bank in the Bahamas.

This application process was aborted once Caruana Galizia started to tease knowledge on her blog about what the two government officials were up to in early 2016.

No money is known to have been transferred to the Panama companies from 17 Black. It is unknown what 17 Black did with the €4.6 million "profit" from the Montenegro deal.

RELATED STORIES https ://timesofmalta .com/a rticles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enema lta-montenegro-deal-via-17- black. 799566 3/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enemalta deal in Montenegro • 'Stalled' 17 Black probe helped Fenech walk away with cheques worth €1.5m

A leaked draft 2017 report from the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, Malta's anti­ money laundering watchdog, had flagged Mizzi's frequent trips to Montenegro in the lead up to the wind farm deal.

iv) Dr. Mizzi's presence in Serbia in October, 2015 five days prior to the date an agreement was signed between the state of Montenegro State Consortium Fersa and Celebic, Mozura Wind Park d.o.o and EnemaIt a pic. v) Dr. Mizzi's presence in Montenegro in November 2015, which is just two days after an agreement was signed between the government of Montenegro and Enema Ita pic. in relation to a 1.5 million Euro bank guarantee. Of further suspicion is the fact that the only transactions which appea r to have been carried out using bank cards during this trip are on Dr. Mizzi's personal credit card and are only for 0.01 euros which means that these were carried out in order to ensure that the card is valid. This therefore raises the question as to why Dr. Mizzi refrained from using his official card during this trip.

The FIAU had flagged Mizzi's frequent trips to Montenegro in a draft 2017 report.

The FIAU report, which detailed reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in Mizzi's dealings, was finalised and sent to the police in spring 2018.

The report contained intelligence naming Fenech as 17 Black's owner.

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, accompanied by Mizzi, travelled to Montenegro to inaugurate the completed wind farm project in November 2019.

Both Muscat and Mizzi told Times of Malta they had no knowledge of Fenech's or 17 Black's connection to the project.

"I dispute your assertion that an email from my service provider states that I might profit from 17 Black. I have publicly stated that I have no connection whatsoever with 17 Black," Mizzi said.

On Schembri's role in the project, Muscat said that to his knowledge, his chief of staff was not involved in the negotiations.

"But it is best to ask him [Schembri] directly about this."

https :1/ti mesofmalta.com/articles/view/yorgen-fenech -profited-from-enema Ita-monte neg ro-dea 1-via-17- black. 799566 4/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enemalta deal in Montenegro

Joseph Muscat (centre) an d Konrad Mizzi (far right) inaugurating the project in November 2019.

Schembri, who according to court testimony in the murder case is a close friend of Fenech, did not respond to a request for comment by Times of Malta.

In 2018, Schembri confirmed having a draft business plan with 17 Black, but has never

elaborated further. In Novembe1~ he dropped a libel case about the , therefore avoiding having to testify about his link to Fenech's company.

RELATED STORIES • How Keith Schembri avoided his day in court on 17 Black.

Fenech has claimed that it was Schembri who masterminded Caruana Galizia's murde1~ an allegation rejected by the former chief of staff.

On his part, Muscat said his role in the project was to foster relations with the government of Montenegro at presidential and prime n1inisteriallevel.

"The Montenegro project was part of the remit the government had agreed upon with our international partners on not only turning around Enemalta, which we did, but also identifying joint investment opportunities in third countries," Muscat said. https ://timesofma Ita .com/articles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enema lta-monteneg ro-dea 1-via-17-b lack. 799566 5/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enema ita deal in Montenegro Conflicting versions on who pitched Montenegro project

Mizzi told Times of Malta the wind farm project pitch originated from Vestigo Capital.

A Vestigo Capital subsidiary is a minority shareholder in the wind farm project along with Enemalta and Shanghai Electric.

Kornad Mizzi presiding over the signing of a €320 million eq uity deal with Shanghai Electric in 2014.

However, a spokesman for Vestigo Capital denied the company introduced the project to either the Maltese government or Enemalta.

Fersa Renovables, the original owners of the wind farm site, had listed Cifidex as being a subsidiary of Vestigo Capital in their annual accounts.

The entry was later corrected, with Fersa declaring that Cifidex is not a subsidiary of Vestigo Capital.

The Vestigo Capital spokesman said Vestigo Clean Energy is a minority partner in the wind farm joint venture, and aside from this investment, has no other connection to Enemalta.

According to the spokesman, neither Vestigo or any related entities or employees are connected to Cifidex.

Europol and police team should look into murder and corruption ~ Repubblika. ~

https :1/timesofmalta.com/articles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enema lta-monteneg ro-dea 1-via-17- black. 799566 6/14 6/22/2020 Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black made millions off Enema Ita deal in Montenegro Appoint a joint Europol and Malta Police team to investigate the assassination of Caruana Galizia and the corruption connected to it, Repubblika is urging the government.

"Journalists, with their limited resources, are revealing huge scandals while it is clear that the police chose to look the other way, and even go so far as to cover up for corrupt politicians," the NGO said in a statement on Friday.

"It is obvious that a number of high officials are compromised in this matter."

Repubblika called on to stop those who have betrayed Malta and are endangering our common wealth from escaping justice.

Police should interrogate those involved in Enemalta deal - PN

The Police should interrogate those involved in the Enemalta deal, the PN said on Friday, adding that Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi had taken personal interest in the project.

"The PN expects Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi to be arrested, investigated and pay for their actions ... the institutions can no longer sit on the fence and remain silent when faced with additional proof of corruption by those who until a few months ago were part of the leadership of this country."

Caruana Galizia foundation calls for joint investigation team

The Daphne Caruana Galizia foundation also called for a Europol joint investigation team.

Malta's European partners are willing to help our country stand up to the violence of this corruption, it said in a statement late on Friday.

The foundation said that it has "never been clearer that Maltese law enforcement, which collapsed under the weight of Fenech, Mizzi and Schembri's international corruption during Muscat's government, needs assistance".

"Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder and the scale and extent of the transnational crime exposed by Caruana Galizia and the journalists continuing her work can only be properly investigated by a joint investigation team unrestricted by national borders," the foundation added.

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https://timesofmalta .com/articles/view/yorgen-fenech-profited-from-enemalta-montenegro-dea 1-via-17 -black. 799566 7/14