Victor Buttigieg, who claims to be the son of the late Tumas Fenech, one of Malta’s richest men, wants the magnate’s children to undergo a DNA test with him, to establish the identity of his real father once and for all.

Buttigieg, who is now 50, is speaking out for the first time in an interview with Times of Malta, explaining how a court battle to establish whether he is, indeed, Fenech’s son, continues to hit legal stumbling blocks.

Business tycoon Tumas Fenech died in 1999, leaving a multi-million 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.

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.

“Many millions,” he says, confidently insisting that he is Tumas Fenech’s son.

However, he argues he is not after the money, and insists that had he suspected his father was a random, average income earner, he would have fought just as hard to find him.

“I want to be honest with you – I’m doing it for the money as well. I want my share like the rest of the heirs. But what matters most to me is finding my dad and my roots,” he said.

“I haven’t known my real dad for too long and it hurts to be left hanging like this.”

His late mother, a property broker, was a long-time business associate of Fenech. She was married with children, but Buttigieg believes she had an affair with Fenech.

When Victor was born, he was registered, like all his siblings, as the son of her husband, and he was raised as the natural offspring of the Buttigieg couple.

“My mum would take me to Tumas’s showroom after school, almost every day. I would sometimes go to his house as well. I would play with his children and we would do homework together,” he recalled.

“Tumas would shower me with sweets and chocolates, which were a rarity back then, and he would give me Lm10 (€23) every single day. I still remember the red bank notes.”

Buttigieg said that together with his mother, Fenech organised and paid for his Holy Communion party, an event for which Fenech’s other children were also present.

He says the business magnate did not do the same for the other Buttigieg children.

Mother told him 'truth' on her death bed

And when he turned 18, Fenech bought him a new Honda car, Buttigieg recalls.

This special treatment would see Buttigieg grow up suspecting that Fenech might, after all, be his real father, but his mother vehemently denied it every time he tried to bring up the subject. She would say her relationship with Fenech was strictly professional.

“Now I can understand why she would deny it – to protect her marriage and her other children,” he said.

All of that changed when she told him “the truth” on her death bed.

Victor was serving time in prison over drug abuse back then, but he was granted permission to visit his dying mother in hospital accompanied by a prison guard.

“As she lay dying, she told me, ‘You were right, you are the son of Tumas. Please forgive me’.”

The prison guard who was accompanying him heard her and testified it in court.

Buttigieg says at that moment he felt a rush of anger, burst in tears and punched the hospital perspex in frustration, injuring his fist.

As he recalled that moment, his fists clenched again, and he admitted he still feels some anger.

“It’s a betrayal, in some sense. I would have liked her to tell me before,” he said.

“I urge people who know of any illegitimate children they have, to inform them while they’re alive, because keeping them in the dark will cause them so much pain eventually.”

Has he forgiven his mother?

Yes, he says, but he is still struggling with the fact that he became fatherless by his mother’s death bed.

“My own mother told me I’m Tumas Fenech’s son. What more evidence do you need?” he said.

He also claims that before all this happened, while he was in prison, he met someone who told him he knew he was Fenech’s son.

Buttigieg had dismissed the man’s claim at first, telling him it was merely a rumour. But the man told him he knew his life story from Tumas himself, who was his friend.

“He told me Tumas would speak about me a lot and that he had told him he was my father.”

In another instance, while he was serving another prison sentence more recently, Buttigieg said he walked past Yorgen Fenech in a prison corridor, and Fenech greeted him by saying, “Hawn zi” (hey uncle).

Buttigieg said he turned to his prison guard in disbelief, asking him whether he had also heard the same greeting. The prison guard nodded.

Tumas Fenech is the grandfather of Yorgen Fenech, the man accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

When Buttigieg walked out of prison the first time almost 10 years ago, he started legal proceedings to have the court confirm that Tumas Fenech was, in fact, his father.

The ride was anything but smooth.

DNA tests confirmed he does not share father with mother's children

DNA genetic tests with his mother’s children confirmed he does not share a father with them and last year, after hearing testimonies of his mother’s close relationship with Fenech, the court ruled there was enough evidence of their intimate friendship to order Fenech’s body to be exhumed so that Buttigieg can confirm whether he is his son.

But an appeals court overturned the decision earlier this year, because the Maltese civil code does not allow anyone to claim someone else is their parent if they already have a legitimate status.

In other words, the court would not let Buttigieg seek paternity with Tumas Fenech, because his birth certificate says he already has a father.

“This is quite an archaic law, designed for a time when Maltese families were much different than they are today,” said Edward DeBono, one of Buttigieg’s lawyers.

“In Malta, someone who wishes to seek another parent must first prove that their birth ceritificate registered parent is not their real parent.”

Buttigieg is now asking court to exhume his mother and his birth certificate father, in a bid to confirm that 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.

In Malta, someone who wishes to seek another parent must first prove that their birth certificate registered parent is not their real parent- Edward DeBono, one of Buttigieg’s lawyers

The other Buttigieg siblings all agreed this should go ahead but it is now up to the sitting judge to decide whether to order the exhumation of the Buttigieg parents.

Meanwhile, Buttigieg is asking the Fenech brothers and sisters to undergo a DNA test with him to put the claim to rest forever.

“All I’m asking for is a DNA test with Tumas Fenech’s children. If it’s true that I’m not their brother, as they insist, then the test would only liberate them once and for all from me and from the case,” he said.

“But they won’t do it because they know I am, indeed, their brother.”

Buttigieg went as far as to urge Fenech’s children to sue him for defamation if his claim is a lie.

“If it were a lie, it would be tarnishing their reputation and they would be right to sue me. But this is no lie. I’m telling the truth and they know it,” he said.

“Had this not been the truth, I wouldn’t spend years in court and come here to make a fool of myself. I know better than that.”

Not in the public interest – Fenech family

In reply to questions, the Fenech siblings dismissed the story as a “purely private matter” that is “certainly not in the public interest”.

“In fact, the proceedings are being held in the Family Court, which court correctly takes all the necessary safeguards to grant as much privacy as possible to the parties during the hearings,” they said.

“We wish to point out that Mr Buttigieg’s claims and allegations have not found any support in court, and indeed most of his requests to date have actually been turned down by the courts.”

They would not, however, reply to why they have refused to undergo a DNA test with Buttigieg and would also not say whether they have ever offered him a financial settlement to drop the case.

Buttigieg says people tell him he actually resembles the man who built the Fenech empire.

“You’d have to be blind not to see the resemblance. I resemble him the most, out of all the siblings.”

Buttigieg, who is also represented by lawyer Maria Cardona, believes he can still reach some sort of agreement with Fenech’s children.

“I believe we’ll get there eventually, and I’m not hungry for money. I can be happy with a fair agreement.”