The man who claims to be the son of Tumas Fenech has faced a fresh stumbling block in his case to prove that he is truly related to the late magnate.
The court has temporarily refused to allow Victor Buttigieg to exhume the remains of his birth certificate parents, ordering him to bring forward more evidence that proves he is not the son of the man who is officially listed as his father.
In her verdict, Madame Justice Abigail Lofaro said the court is “not morally convinced” that the exhumation and subsequent DNA testing of the late couple constitute the best possible evidence at this stage.
She also said she will not grant permission for exhumation until other family members of Tumas Fenech are formally notified of Buttigieg’s request and given the chance to respond to it.
These include Fenech’s grandson Yorgen Fenech, who has been charged in connection with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Edward Debono, a lawyer for Buttigieg, told the court last week that his client has brought forward all possible proof and the only remaining evidence is a DNA test with his birth certificate father, proving he is not his son.
He also argued that this impasse can easily be solved if Tumas Fenech’s children – or at least a few of them – submit themselves to a DNA genetic test, which they have so far refused.
Last June, Victor Buttigieg, 50, asked the court to exhume the remains of his birth certificate parents.
A month earlier, a court of appeal had denied him permission to exhume the remains of Tumas Fenech because the Maltese civil code does not allow anyone to claim someone else is their parent if they already have a legitimate status.
This means the court would not let Buttigieg seek paternity with Tumas Fenech because his birth certificate says he already has a father.
Blocked from doing a DNA test with Fenech, Buttigieg is now attempting to exhume his birth certificate parents in a bid to confirm the man is not really his father and have his birth certificate changed to mark him as ‘unknown father’.
It is then that Buttigieg will be legally allowed to seek Tumas Fenech as his father.
Tumas Fenech’s children deny blood ties
Tumas Fenech’s children, who have been denying blood ties with Buttigieg, objected to his request of the exhumation of his own birth certificate parents.
Buttigieg says he was raised as the natural offspring of his mother and her husband, but for most of his childhood, his mother would take him to Tumas Fenech’s house, where he would play and do homework with Fenech’s children.
Buttigieg says Fenech loved him like his son, giving him Lm10 (€23) every single day, paying for his Holy Communion party and even buying him a new car when he turned 18.
Buttigieg says that his suspicion that his mother had an affair with Fenech was confirmed when, on her death bed, she told him that he was, indeed, Fenech’s son.
Fenech’s heirs deny the claim and insist Buttigieg is not their brother but have so far refused to undergo a DNA genetic test.
If the court rules that Buttigieg is, in fact Fenech’s son, he could become a millionaire overnight.
Business tycoon Tumas Fenech died in 1999, leaving a multimillion empire, and Buttigieg believes he owns a hefty share of it – a slice as large as Fenech’s children have inherited – because Fenech died without leaving a will.
Buttigieg is being assisted by lawyers Edward Debono and Maria Cardona, while Tumas Fenech’s heirs are being represented in court by Robert Thake and Karl Briffa.