The Tumas Group announced on Monday that it was seeking an independent, external report to ascertain whether it had benefited in any way from the illicit activities being attributed to its former director, Yorgen Fenech.
Mr Fenech has been charged in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.
In 2018, a joint investigation by Times of Malta and Reuters revealed that Mr Fenech was the owner of Dubai-registered company 17 Black. A leaked email showed the company was the intended source of funds for secret companies opened by the Prime Minister's former chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-minister Konrad Mizzi.
In a statement, the board of directors of Tumas Investments plc said it had sought and received assurances from the Tumas Group that “during the course of 2019, the Tumas Group has not benefited from any illicit activities being attributed to Yorgen Fenech. The board has, moreover, been informed that, in the light of the events that have unfolded over the past days, the Tumas Group feels that it should seek additional comfort in this regard through an independent, external report.”
Issued following the recent developments concerning its former director, the board statement said that since reports first surfaced last year linking Mr Fenech to irregularities, he “strenuously denied all allegations in his regard, both publicly as well as within the Tumas Group.”
“The events unfolding recently have caused concern and dismay to the Board of Tumas Investments, that supports the Tumas Group’s statement disassociating itself from the alleged actions being attributed to Mr Fenech,” it said.
The board also sought to clarify that Mr Fenech never held the post of chief executive officer of the Tumas Group or of Spinola Development Company Limited. The posts of Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Tumas Group are held by Raymond Fenech, who has occupied these roles since the demise of George Fenech in 2014 and who continues in his leadership role. Yorgen Fenech held the post of director as a result of inheritance, it said.
It said the statement was being issued “to better inform bondholders” on the company’s affairs given the stock issued on the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange.
Last week, the Tumas Group dissociated itself from Mr Fenech, saying the allegations linking him to Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder are alien to the values that Tumas Group has stood for since its inception and continues to profess”.
“The Tumas Group dissociates itself from any actions which are in any manner contrary to law and from any and all individuals who are alleged or proven to be involved in any unlawful actions in connection with recently unfolding events. The group, its management and all of its employees are shocked and deeply saddened by the allegations concerning Mr Fenech,” it said in its statement.