Iosif Galea, former Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) compliance officer, was finally arrested. Germany issued a European arrest warrant for his alleged criminal conspiracy. Malta’s police did nothing. They even let him slip out of the country. While Galea was holidaying in Italy with Joseph Muscat, the Italians pounced.
Malta has now issued a European arrest warrant against him, which would snatch him from the jaws of German justice and return him to the safety of the capital of impunity – Malta.
Galea has a long history. Last year, he was fined €53,333 by the MFSA and ordered to stop providing corporate services. He failed to provide the regulator information it requested. Galea allegedly tipped off Silvio Zammit about the OLAF investigation into John Dalli’s €60 million bribery claims.
For years, Malta blocked Italian law enforcement’s efforts to fight organised crime.
“It is easier to work with Peru or Colombia than with Malta,” chief anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri lamented in 2017. Malta’s then attorney general, Peter Grech was sent an urgent request by the Italian court to seize Centurionbet’s assets. Francesco Martiradonna, the son of a convicted mafioso, was controlling Centurionbet’s operations. The MGA quickly issued a gaming licence to Centurionbet, despite money-laundering charges. When Italy arrested Martiradonna, the MGA took a full month to suspend his company’s licence.
Grech ignored the request to seize assets for weeks. The anti-mafia prosecutor complained that “if Malta decides not to collaborate or replies six months or a year later, the investigation is useless”. In January 2018, the Italian court resubmitted another request. Grech refused to act until reporters contacted the Maltese authorities for comments.
Italian investigators found repeated instances of criminal infiltration and a lack of effective oversight by the MGA. In 2018, Palermitan anti-mafia prosecutors cracked down on a vast Maltese gambling network linked to Cosa Nostra. Former MGA officials helped criminals obtain licences and hide behind secretive operations. Massimo Lagana, who faced investigations linked to Mafia ties, presented himself as a successful gaming impresario in Malta and organised live poker tournaments at Yorgen Fenech’s Portomaso.
In July 2017, Lagana was arrested and charged in Messina, subsequently acquitted of Mafia-linked charges, but convicted of lesser crimes.
Benedetto Bacchi, the ‘king of gambling’, used Maltese gambling licences to increase his profits to €16 million per month. In 2018, he was arrested by Palermitan anti-mafia prosecutors. MGA finally revoked the licence of LB Group but refused to say whether this was because of criminal links. LB was managed by Matteo Denaro, the boss of all Cosa Nostra bosses.
This wasn’t simply gross incompetence. The MGA was a nest of corruption. Joseph Muscat installed Joseph Cuschieri as head of the authority. On Cuschieri’s watch, the MGA allowed Maltese gaming licences to change hands from one criminal group to another. The OCCRP documented how Maltese online gambling became an ATM for the Italian Mafia.
A list of MGA officials have since been charged with corruption and money laundering. Jason Farrugia, former chief technology officer at MGA, was charged with money laundering, extortion and bribes. Nicholas Cachia, a business associate of Fenech, with links to Maltese gaming company Glimmer Ltd, was arrested in Italy and transferred to France.
Former MGA CEO Heathcliff Farrugia was charged with trading in influence with Fenech in January 2021 but this was covered up and only exposed months later. The MGA CEO allegedly provided Fenech with commercially sensitive information about rival casino operators and anti-money-laundering inspections.
Italian investigators found repeated instances of criminal infiltration and a lack of effective oversight by the MGA- Kevin Cassar
Cuschieri was photographed lounging on Fenech’s yacht with Fenech embracing him. Cuschieri travelled to Las Vegas on a trip paid by Fenech and admitted giving Fenech advice. By the time the information surfaced, Cuschieri had been promoted to MFSA CEO. The law didn’t contemplate such a post but Muscat amended the law to create the position for him. The MFSA board of directors should have selected the CEO. Instead, an OPM source admitted it was Muscat who personally ordered Cuschieri’s appointment.
As Cuschieri’s close relationship with Fenech was exposed, an ‘independent’ panel was set up. Without waiting for the outcome of investigations, Robert Abela leapt to Cuschieri’s defence. “There is no conflict of interest,” Abela declared.
Abela prejudged the case, wilfully putting pressure on the ‘independent’ panel and perverting justice. The panel report was never published. Cuschieri suspended himself and later resigned from CEO. He had been receiving a €150,000 salary but abusively claimed an extra €23,000 for attending board meetings he was obliged to.
He even authorised his own exorbitant travel expenses that exceeded €475,000.
In 2017, EU officials criticised Malta for failing to uphold standards on financial transactions. Labour’s government rebutted that “the country has proven to be an exemplary authority in regulating high-risk industries such as online gambling”.
Instead of being prosecuted for trading in influence and dereliction of duty, Cuschieri was promoted to MFSA CEO by his friend, Muscat.
Muscat was eyeing another source of dirty money – cryptocurrencies. He hailed it as “the future of money”. Before regulations were enacted, Malta hosted “the largest share of cryptocurrency trading in the world”. The OCCRP commented that “while many countries maintain a safe distance, Muscat appears eager to gamble”. Muscat tasked Cuschieri to turn the island into a hub for the “booming industry”.
Muscat had considered appointing Adrian Hillman to replace Cuschieri as MGA head. He eventually chose Farrugia.
Heathcliff Farrugia, Hillman, Cachia, Jason Farrugia have all been charged.
Cuschieri evades justice. So does Edwina Licari, Cuschieri’s protégé. So did Galea until the Italians swooped.
It doesn’t take imagination to figure out why Galea enjoys impunity. His partner worked as Michelle Muscat’s personal assistant. His father, a longtime Labour administration employee, works in the private secretariat of Alison Zerafa Civelli, Abela’s sister-in-law.
Galea is Muscat’s travelling companion.
Galea’s European arrest warrant was issued over a year ago. And Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà did nothing. For months.