Update: Malta Police are investigating a Spanish tuna fish company that operates from Malta. The Minister for the Environment said the Police have involved Interpol to receive information from Spain about investigations that have been carried out regarding this Spanish company.
In a statement the Ministry said the Government is collaborating with authorities in all investigations to establish all the facts regarding the case and in the interests of the aquaculture and fisheries sector in Malta.
Maltese authorities are also conducting other investigations through the Police while an ongoing Inquiry is being conducted by Magistrate Gabriella Vella. TVM
Earlier – The director of Malta’s fisheries department has been suspended following allegations that she demanded money off a Spanish tuna kingpin.
Andreina Fenech Farrugia was asked to step aside after phone intercepts published by Spanish news outlet El Confidencial suggested she was involved in a tuna corruption racket.
A top government source told Times of Malta that a new department director is expected to be appointed later on Tuesday.
In transcripts of telephone conversations between Andreina Fenech Farrugia and Jose Fuentes Garcia, published by El Confidencial, the Maltese fisheries boss tells Mr Fuentes “I am in Bulgaria just for you. You have to pay me, because I have a meeting with the [director] general of Brussels”.
The documents date that conversation as having taken place on June 20, 2018, when EU fisheries heads were meeting under the auspices of Bulgaria’s EU Council presidency. Mr Fuentes sits at the top of a multinational empire which covers more than 40 different companies.
Tuna, however, is the family crown jewel, and the Grupo Fuentes is the world’s largest seller of Atlantic bluefin tuna. The company has a Maltese subsidiary firm, Mare Blue Fishing.
The Spanish investigation revolves around suspicions that Malta helped the Fuentes Group import undeclared tuna, bypassing quota restrictions.
Authorities suspect that the illegal trade reached up to €25 million.
Malta Today reports that the Environment Minister Jose Herrera told MaltaToday on Tuesday morning that he has suspended Fenech Farrugia. “I will be appointing an acting head shortly,” Herrera said, without elaborating.
Present for the meeting was European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella, who is also responsible for fisheries.
Other intercepts show that the Maltese high official would have collaborated for years to enable the Fuentes Group introduce more bluefin tuna onto the market.
