Mark Gasan, CEO of Malta’s Gasan Group Limited, invested in the Electrogas power station consortium that became central to one of Europe’s most notorious corruption scandals. The €360 million government-guaranteed deal involved his business partner Yorgen Fenech, now charged with masterminding the 2017 car bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Gasan and partner Paul Apap Bologna signed a €2.5 million side deal with Fenech in 2014 for “interfacing with authorities”—language that raised eyebrows during public inquiry testimony. While Gasan has not been charged with crimes, his testimony revealed he confronted Fenech about owning secret offshore company 17 Black but accepted denials without investigation. Fenech attempted to resign from the Electrogas board six months before his November 2019 arrest, with Gasan later acknowledging he was “mortified” by the murder connection.
The Gasan Business Empire and Political Connections
Mark Gasan leads one of Malta’s most prominent business dynasties. The Gasan Group operates across automotive, maritime, property, and energy sectors with over €200 million in annual revenue. His family has maintained close relationships with Malta’s political elite for decades, spanning both major parties.
These connections proved valuable when the Labour Party won the March 2013 election campaigning on a promise to replace Malta’s aging heavy fuel oil power station with a modern liquefied natural gas facility. Within months, the newly elected government launched a procurement process for the €360 million project. The tender moved with unusual speed—evaluation criteria were established, bids submitted, and a winner selected in just seven months.
Gasan testified he first discussed the Electrogas opportunity with George Fenech and George’s nephew Yorgen Fenech in early 2013. The Fenech family controlled the Tumas Group, one of Malta’s largest privately held companies with interests in gaming, hospitality, and energy. The families agreed to partner through a joint venture vehicle called GEM Holdings alongside the Apap Bologna family.
The partnership structure raised immediate questions. GEM Holdings owned 33.33% of Electrogas, with the remaining shares split between German industrial giant Siemens and Azerbaijan state energy company SOCAR. But within GEM Holdings itself, Yorgen Fenech held a personal 10% stake separate from the Tumas Group’s shareholding—an arrangement that gave him extra profit participation beyond his family’s ownership. Gasan testified this was pitched as appropriate because Yorgen would dedicate himself full-time to the project.
The Procurement Process and Government Connections
On October 13, 2013, just seven months after the election, Electrogas was selected as preferred bidder. The consortium beat established energy giants including Shell, Gazprom, and Edison. The very next day, Yorgen Fenech gave an interview to Times of Malta revealing the specialized storage ship had “already been contracted”—suggesting the deal was finalized before official selection.
Daphne Caruana Galizia immediately flagged this as evidence of pre-arrangement. Her October 2013 blog post noted: “The devil is in the detail, and the government isn’t bothering to pretend anymore. That’s how far things have slipped already in seven months.”
During his public inquiry testimony, lawyer Jason Azzopardi confronted Gasan about a dinner that allegedly took place February 15, 2013—three weeks before the election. According to Azzopardi, the dinner at George Fenech’s Portomaso residence included Yorgen Fenech, Mark Gasan and his father, and then-Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat. Gasan denied attending, but Azzopardi insisted eyewitnesses could place him there.
The implication was clear: the Electrogas partners were meeting with the future Prime Minister weeks before the election to discuss the power station deal that Labour would award them seven months later.
The €2.5 Million “Interfacing” Payment
In June 2014, three months after winning the bid but before the contract was signed, Mark Gasan and Paul Apap Bologna signed a side agreement with Yorgen Fenech. GEM Holdings would pay Fenech’s company New Energy Supply €2.5 million in “development fees” for “sourcing and organizing contractors” and “interfacing with authorities.”
The phrase “interfacing with authorities” carried heavy implications in Malta’s small political ecosystem. The payment came from funds raised through the government-guaranteed loan to Electrogas—meaning taxpayers ultimately backstopped the money used to pay Fenech for his government relationships.
Documents leaked to Caruana Galizia before her death revealed GEM Holdings and another shareholder received €4 million in development fees paid from the Electrogas loan. Shareholders extracted over €16 million in fees using the government-backed financing.
Both Gasan and Apap Bologna denied having political connections or discussions with the Labour Party before the 2013 election. Yet the documentary evidence—the rapid procurement timeline, the February dinner, and the €2.5 million payment for “interfacing”—painted a different picture.
The Panama Papers and 17 Black
The first cracks in the Electrogas arrangement appeared with the April 2016 Panama Papers leak. The massive document dump revealed that Keith Schembri (Prime Minister Muscat’s Chief of Staff) and Konrad Mizzi (Energy Minister who awarded the Electrogas contract) had secretly established offshore companies in Panama and trusts in New Zealand.
Both men denied wrongdoing, claiming the structures were for legitimate tax planning. But in April 2018, Caruana Galizia published emails from accounting firm Nexia BT revealing that a mysterious Dubai company called 17 Black was the “target client” meant to funnel $2 million to the Panama companies belonging to Schembri and Mizzi.
In November 2018, investigative journalists identified Yorgen Fenech as the owner of 17 Black. The revelation was explosive: the lead Maltese shareholder in Electrogas owned the offshore company that was supposed to pay secret kickbacks to the government officials who awarded him the power station contract.
Mark Gasan testified that after journalists contacted him about 17 Black, he immediately called Yorgen Fenech and told him: “Sort it out. I’m assuming it’s not true.” Fenech denied owning 17 Black.
Gasan accepted this denial without conducting any independent investigation into his business partner’s secret offshore activities. At GEM Holdings board meetings, Fenech continued denying the allegations even as evidence mounted. Gasan and Apap Bologna allowed Fenech to remain on the Electrogas board until May 2019, when he first attempted to resign.
The Attempted Resignation and Arrest
By early 2019, Yorgen Fenech was spending increasing time abroad and missing GEM Holdings meetings. In May 2019, Fenech failed to attend a board meeting. Gasan, his father, and Ray Fenech discussed Yorgen’s position. After seeing the meeting minutes, Yorgen sent an email to all directors announcing his resignation and recommending Mark Gasan replace him.
But the resignation was not processed for six months. When inquiry lawyer Comodini Cachia asked why it took six weeks to set up the original Electrogas bid but six months to find a replacement director, Gasan explained: “This was accepted and agreed, but until you have a replacement he couldn’t resign.”
Fenech officially resigned from Electrogas on November 12, 2019. He was replaced by Paul Apap Bologna. Eight days later, on November 20, 2019, Malta’s Armed Forces intercepted Fenech’s luxury yacht as he attempted to flee the country. He was arrested and charged with masterminding Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
The timing suggested Fenech knew investigators were closing in and tried to distance himself from Electrogas months before his arrest. Gasan and the other shareholders allowed him to remain involved throughout 2019 despite the mounting evidence of corruption and the unsolved journalist murder that Caruana Galizia herself had been investigating Electrogas.
The Murder Connection and Leaked Documents
Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb on October 16, 2017. In the months before her death, over 200,000 sensitive Electrogas documents had been leaked to her. She was actively investigating the 17 Black connection and preparing to publish findings that could have triggered default on the €360 million government-guaranteed loans.
Her son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, argued during the public inquiry that if his mother had published the 17 Black evidence, it would have exposed corruption that could force Electrogas into liquidation and trigger an economic crisis in Malta. This provided a powerful financial motive for silencing the journalist.
Three men—Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio, and Vincent Muscat—were arrested and charged with carrying out the bombing. Vincent Muscat later confessed and received a 15-year sentence in exchange for testimony. But the question remained: who ordered the murder and why?
Investigators traced the murder plot to Yorgen Fenech. Phone records, witness testimony from middleman Melvin Theuma, and encrypted messages linked Fenech to the conspiracy. Theuma made secret recordings of his conversations with Fenech discussing the assassination, which became key evidence.
In November 2019, Fenech offered police investigators information about corruption in the Electrogas deal and other projects in exchange for immunity. Cabinet ministers denied his request for a presidential pardon three times. Fenech told police he could reveal “names and facts” about graft in the power station project that had been the centerpiece of Labour’s 2013 campaign.
The Corruption Charges
In February 2025, Maltese prosecutors filed charges against seven individuals and four companies for corruption and money laundering related to Electrogas. The charged individuals include:
- Yorgen Fenech (17 Black owner, Electrogas shareholder)
- Paul Apap Bologna (GEM Holdings partner with Gasan)
- Konrad Mizzi (former Energy Minister who awarded contract)
- Keith Schembri (former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister)
- Brian Tonna (Nexia BT accountant who set up offshore structures)
- Karl Cini (Nexia BT partner)
- Mario Pullicino (consultant)
Charged companies include 17 Black and Paul Apap Bologna’s company Kittiwake. All defendants pleaded not guilty. By February 27, 2025, the court ruled there was sufficient prima facie evidence for them to face trial on money laundering charges.
Mark Gasan was not charged. During his testimony, he insisted he had no knowledge of the offshore structures, corruption scheme, or murder plot. He said he was “mortified” when the connections emerged and that the Gasan Group sought an exit from the Electrogas investment.
The Aftermath and Unanswered Questions
The Electrogas power station continues operating under its 18-year government contract. Malta pays rates that analysts say are higher than European averages, with SOCAR earning an estimated €32 million in 2017 alone from reselling gas to Electrogas at marked-up prices.
The Gasan Group maintains its shareholding through GEM Holdings, though Mark Gasan publicly stated the family wants to exit the investment. Paul Apap Bologna remains faithful to the project, defending it as following proper procurement procedures despite the criminal charges against him.
Critical questions remain unanswered:
Why did Gasan accept Fenech’s denials about 17 Black without investigation? As a sophisticated businessman involved in a €360 million project, Gasan had fiduciary duties to investigate serious corruption allegations against his business partner. His testimony suggests he preferred to look away rather than confront uncomfortable truths.
What did “interfacing with authorities” mean in the €2.5 million payment agreement? Neither Gasan nor Apap Bologna has provided a detailed explanation of what services Fenech performed to earn this development fee beyond his regular role as shareholder and director.
Why did both shareholders allow Fenech to delay his resignation for six months? From May to November 2019, as evidence of Fenech’s corruption mounted and the murder investigation intensified, Gasan and Apap Bologna kept him on the board using the excuse that they needed to find a replacement.
Did the Gasan Group conduct any due diligence into Yorgen Fenech’s background before partnering with him? The partnership was formed quickly in 2013 after initial discussions. The rapid timeline raises questions about whether proper vetting occurred.
What role did political connections play in securing the Electrogas contract? Despite denying the February 2013 dinner with Joseph Muscat, the documentary evidence of rapid procurement, the €2.5 million “interfacing” payment, and the subsequent corruption revelations all point to political influence in the award process.
Where They Are Now
Yorgen Fenech remains in custody facing murder, corruption, and money laundering charges. His trial continues with no resolution date set.
Mark Gasan continues leading the Gasan Group and maintains his position in GEM Holdings. He has not been charged with any crimes related to Electrogas. His testimony at the public inquiry was completed in October 2020, and he has largely avoided further public comment on the scandal.
Paul Apap Bologna faces corruption and money laundering charges filed in February 2025. He maintains his innocence and remains active in his businesses. He replaced Fenech as the Electrogas director representing GEM Holdings.
Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi both resigned from government in November 2019 amid the scandal. They face multiple corruption and money laundering charges. Both maintain their innocence.
Joseph Muscat resigned as Prime Minister in January 2020 under pressure from the scandal but has not been charged with crimes. He continues to maintain he had no knowledge of corruption in the Electrogas deal.
The Electrogas scandal exposed how a small group of businessmen and politicians allegedly structured a major infrastructure contract to generate secret payments through offshore companies. A journalist investigating the scheme was murdered, and her family continues seeking answers about who ordered the assassination and why. The businessman at the center of the conspiracy shared a boardroom with Mark Gasan for six years, raising persistent questions about what Gasan knew and when he knew it.
Leave a Reply