A Maltese arms dealer has been charged with breaching EU sanctions on Libya.
James Fenech, 41, allegedly used two military-grade Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) to circumvent international sanctions and transport private contractors out of war-torn Libya without notifying the authorities.
A mysterious Malta-registered boat found in the harbour or Zwetina, Libya, some 150 kilometres south of Benghazi, last August had raised suspicion that it was being used to sneak people in and out of the country, prompting the Libyan authorities to launch an investigation.
At the time, Libyan news sites had wrongly reported that the boat belonged to the Armed Forces of Malta, while some sections of the Libya press had speculated that it could have been used to ferry special forces or intelligence teams into the region.
On Friday afternoon, five Maltese men, Fenech and four men, aged 63, 47, 45 and 44, believed to have manned that vessel and another identical to it, were all charged in court in Valletta with sanctions busting.
According to the prosecution, Fenech had entered into a contractual agreement with a United Arab Emirates company to shuttle personnel in and out of Libya. This was allegedly done without authorisation from the relevant authorities.
In a statement on Saturday, police superintendent George Cremona, responsible for the counter terrorism unit, said the investigation was also looking into possible money laundering.
An attachment order on financial information has been requested, as well as letters rogatory sent to overseas jurisdictions.
A request to freeze assets linked to Fenech has also been issued and accepted by the courts, the police said.
Source: Times of Malta daily newspaper.