Lawyer and former PN MP Jason Azzopardi has filed an urgent request for an inquiry into an alleged corruption racket linked of to the allocation of in-demand mooring spaces at the Port of Mġarr, Gozo.
The claims, supported by sworn statements, suggest a systematic abuse of public office involving bribery within the Transport and Gozo ministries and strongly feature Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and his wife, lawyer Deborah Camilleri.
In his appeal filed under Article 546(4A) of the Maltese Criminal Code, Azzopardi accused high-ranking officials within Transport Malta and the Ministry for Gozo of accepting bribes to allocate mooring spots to unqualified individuals. This includes falsified declarations and other illicit methods to manipulate the allocation process.
The scheme allegedly served not only financial interests but also aimed to secure electoral votes for key figures by offering favourable allocations in return for political loyalty.
Azzopardi is now calling on a magistrate to seize the electronic devices of the persons and ministries involved before this evidence is lost.
The racket
Azzopardi has been receiving information from witnesses since September and they provided him with detailed accounts of the racket’s operations.
At the centre of this alleged controversy is Qala resident Toni Caruana, otherwise known as Żbibu. He allegedly facilitated bribes and leveraged his son Christoph Caruana’s position as the head of Customer Care at the Gozo Ministry and a member of the minister’s private secretariat.
Toni Caruana would regularly meet third parties at the local band club or in town squares, promising them jobs in the public sector or highly sought-after mooring spaces in return for financial or other favours.
Some mooring spots were allegedly given to people who weren’t fishermen, while others benefitted from the corruption by jumping the queue on the waiting list.
Toni Caruana would then pass on the information to his son, Christoph, who would then contact Marcel Meilaq, a Transport Malta official at the Gozo office and a fellow Qala resident. Meilaq’s role was crucial in processing fraudulent allocations and other administrative abuses, according to Azzopardi.
While Azzopardi has no proof of monetary gain by Minister Camilleri, he did allege that he was well aware of this scheme and that it allowed him to secure electoral votes.
The minister’s wife
Deborah Camilleri, Clint Camilleri’s wife, is being accused of embezzlement and misappropriating funds.
Azzopardi is alleging that Camilleri continued to practice her private legal work while holding a full-time public position as a top manager at Transport Malta Gozo. According to Azzopardi, she would often attend court sittings while she was supposed to be at the Gozo office.
This means, on a prima facie basis, Camilleri is liable to face prosecution for money laundering, according to the Criminal Code.
According to court documents submitted by Azzopardi in his appeal, Camilleri represented private clients in Gozo court proceedings during her working hours at Transport Malta on at least 11 different occasions.
The court minutes included in his application revealed that Camilleri appeared before two different magistrates on the same day and even handled two separate cases before the same magistrate on a single day.
Besides this, Camilleri is alleged to have played a central and active role in enabling the corruption network. Azzopardi described her as “an author” of the scheme, implying that she was directly responsible for committing the criminal act rather than an accomplice or an accessory to the corruption.
In this case, it would mean she was directly involved in actions like authorising or facilitating bribery, falsifying records, or enabling the misuse of public resources, rather than being someone who merely assisted or turned a blind eye to the corruption.
Calls for action
In a live video statement on social media, Azzopardi expanded on these claims, emphasising the depth of the alleged corruption and calling for immediate judicial intervention to preserve critical evidence.
Meanwhile, in his appeal, Azzopardi is urging investigators to secure evidence from mobile devices, servers and other electronic records at Transport Malta Gozo and the Gozo Ministry.
He further called for investigations into the persons named in the appeal for alleged abuse of public office involving bribery, fraudulent practices, money laundering, and organised crime.
Azzopardi specifically called for Deborah Camilleri to be investigated for embezzlement and misappropriation as well as her husband for being an accomplice.
