A Labour lunch in Xlendi

Published: March 19, 2013 at 10:25pm

UPDATED: Jeffrey and Carmen Pullicino Orlando were at lunch today at a restaurant in Xlendi, with Magistrate Carol Peralta, Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia and his girlfriend, Andy Ellul and his whatever, and others.

And in case you’re wondering, Carol Peralta is not a switcher. He’s been voting Labour since Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami tried to have him impeached for serious law-breaking behaviour towards his girlfriend of the time.

The Freemasonry was a separate issue.

The impeachement had the support of the Commission for the Administration of Justice at the time, but then the matter lapsed.

Magistrate Carol Peralta's lunch companion

Magistrate Carol Peralta’s lunch companion




59 Comments Comment

  1. TinaB says:

    Dawn l-istess nies li tant ghajjru lil Partit Nazzjonalista fil-gvern bil-klikka.

    Imisskhom tisthu, intkom u kif ukoll kull min ivvotalkom.

    Ja qabda ipokriti.

  2. Paul says:

    At Manuel Mallia’s friend’s restaurant perhaps?

    • Rita Camilleri says:

      Oh, so he has a restaurant too – what is it called, so I will definitely NOT GO THERE when I go up to Gozo.

  3. Gbejna mghoxxa says:

    There are some nice pristine countryside locations that can be developed as discotheques in Gozo.

  4. ken il malti says:

    What the hell is wrong about being a Freemason !!

    Three quarters of all judges and police chiefs and admirals and generals in the western world belong to the brotherhood.

    Try finding a police station in the UK or a law court there with no Freemasons, good luck.

    • Catsrbest says:

      Are you serious about questioning what is wrong? Isn’t it dangerous and highly biased, not to mention immoral, because the law should hold no bias at all.

    • Conservative says:

      There is a difference, a very important one, between the theistic free lodges based on British tradition, which are entirely harmless and indeed part of the British establishment, to the extent that the Grand Master of the Free Lodges is normally a senior memberof the Royal Family, and publicly so.

      The other side of the coin are the atheist lodges, such as the Grand Orient, P2, and so forth, which are considered false lodges by the others and are seriously dangerous, with not only high level infiltration with an aim to control state institutions, notoriously in Italy and France, but also bump off members who chose to leave and have an intention to sow anarchy to install their new world order. They have been at it since the Carbonari in the 1860s and earlier.

      That is one good reaon why Italy is in such an incurable mess.

      As always, Maltese intelligentsia does not make a difference between the two and simply knocks them down as “Mazuni”. One is a boy scout act that looks out for its own members and the other is a seriously dangerous and distabilisng influence.

      Many French Knight of St John were in the Grand Orient and worked to topple their own Order from Malta and get Napoleon in,

      • Maria Xriha says:

        In Malta I have seen Freemason bank managers give endless loans, for which no hypotheque was necessary, to their fellow masons. I imagine that is in keeping with their rules.

        I’ve seen masons abroad based on quite a different non-economic pursuit: that of insight and knowledge.

        I’d back the latter.

      • Catsrbest says:

        Thank you Conservative for explaining it in detail. And the Maltese being Latin/Mediterranean they tend to emulate the Grand Orient and not the British models.

    • janeff says:

      What is wrong? It’s that the world is ruled by a cabal of evil groups of people intent on destroying our moral values. That’s what’s wrong. Can’t you see it?

  5. Harry Purdie says:

    Have a good buddy in Canada who’s a Freemason. Also know that he’s quite ‘free’ with his ‘mason’.

    Also drives a tractor in the Shriner’s parades.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      Freemasonry elsewhere is just grown-up Boy Scouts wearing aprons. Nothing sinister.

      But not in Malta. We’re too much into that whole Sicilian godfather thing, and the only reason grown men will join a club, it seems, is for nefarious purposes. Except the scale modellers’ club and the Malta philatelic society, bless ’em.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        How did you know, Baxxter? My Freemason buddy and I used to march in the same Preston Scout House Drum and Bugle Corps in Canada! We were in our late teens, though.

  6. ken il malti says:

    Yes I am serious,

    There is nothing illegal about being a Freemason, even in Malta and not all Maltese people happen to be Roman Catholic just because the majority claim to be Roman Catholic.

    At one time Malta had 20 Freemason Lodges, but these mostly catered to foreigners in British Colonial times.

    FM Lodges in Malta date back as far as to the time of Grand Master Pinto.

    As a Blue Lodge degree member in good standing for many years I find nothing immoral about it even if I was in a position of influence and power.

    Then anyone that belongs to the Catholic Action League or M.U.S.E.U.M or is a Jesuit or one their co-adjutors ( plenty of those in Malta, just look at the top politicians) or is a SMOM member should be judged by the same rule-book.

    Funny that from EFA, who is suppose to be the father of bringing in Malta to the age of EU enlightenment and modern European ways. With freedom of religion and freedom of association and all that good stuff;

    With human rights to all its members and away from parochial southern European small minded small island mentality.

    I guess some minorities have more rights then others on the island, gee whiz that must be so EU like.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      I really like my Freemason buddy, although I’m a converted Catholic. (necessary way back when, in order to marry a Catholic princess.)

    • La Redoute says:

      Please let’s not be tedious about this. Given the screwball existence in this place where rules exist only to be thwarted, broken, misued or directed towards unseemly ends, it’s asking too much if you’d have us believe that Freemasonry is virginal white.

      • ken il malti says:

        No one is saying that every Freemason is on the up and up and that no intrigue has ever taken place that involved a Freemason or two.

        But to single out Freemasonry and no other society or organization or family connections is being less than disingenuous.

        Freemasonry at its highest level is controlled by the Jesuits.

        There, you have fallen for the black and white, left vs right, us and them trick.

        In the end, the top of the pyramid is really a small place and it has only room for the main controller and no one else.

        You are either a modern and free society or you are not.

        In no other modern western nation can you discriminate against someone because they are a Freemason, it is simply not done.

        Like it is not done when someone is a Mormon, or a Muslim, or a Methodist, or a Buddhist or a Scientologist, or Jewish or an atheist, or belongs to the Rotary club etc.

      • La Redoute says:

        What is the point of joining a secretive organisation which prizes loyalty to fellow members before all else?

        The problem with freemasonry is not the wearing of aprons and other such camp practises, but with the subversion of loyalty to the institutions in which freemasons are supposed to serve.

        There’s much to be said for transparency and openness to public scrutiny. There’s not a lot that can be said in the defence of an organisation which admitted to its ranks someone who was supposed to prevent crime but is now accused of serious crime himself.

    • Snoopy says:

      If you are really a member of the Lodge, then you must know that there is no religion and the problem is not about religion, but about the Maltese Freemasonry, being a secret society, as opposed to Freemasonry in other countries.

      Not knowing one’s relationship with an accuse removes one basic principle from having a free and transparent justice system.

      • Gimmi says:

        Min jagixxi fid-dlam huwa ulied id-dlam u ghandhu x’jahbi u allura huwa korrott immorali u mahmug. Min m’ghandhux x’jahbi jaghmel kollox fid-dawl tax-xemx.

        Fejn jara u jisma kulhadd. Mhux ta’ b’xejn illi certi neguzjanti qeghdin naqra naqra jitressqu l=-qorti b’atti kriminali. Dawk huma l-loggog ta’ hokkli dahri u nhokklok dahrek. U bic-cejpelli wkoll.

      • ken il malti says:

        The original complaint in Malta was always about Freemasonry being in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and its hegemony on the islands.

        150 to 60 years ago Freemasons in Malta were accused of being Satanists, performing black mass, plotting to overthrow the Catholic Church, to being atheist, bound for hell etc.

        They were ostracized and their business was boycotted.

        Sometimes if you were not seen at Sunday mass in Malta or Gozo, the rumour that you were a Freemason could be maliciously bandied about with no solid evidence, and that is all it took for you to lose your job or to ruin your business.

        My late father knew of a barber in Malta that had his business ruined on just this type of false hearsay alone, all because he did not attend mass.

        Blaming Freemasonry for the possibility of not having a free and transparent justice system is a red – herring as there are many other ways for the Justice system not to be transparent.

        Political polarization and who you are connected to familial wise is the largest culprit for Judicial hanky-panky on the island and it is far greater than Freemasonry can ever be in Malta.

        This is old wines in news skins.

        The problem is not Freemasonry but the Judicial System in general if the Judicial System is that easy to throw off balance, it is built on a foundation of sand, therefor it should be soundly rebuilt as soon as possible.

        Other countries do not seem to have this problem.

    • kev says:

      ken il malti, “as a Blue Lodge degree member in good standing for many years” I hope you realise that you are less than a minion, that is, you not only don’t know what goes on above your rank, but you also haven’t a clue of what lies beyond the 33rd degree.

      And Baxxter. Elsewhere… grown-up scouts? Never mind…

  7. adrian says:

    tina b jien kburi li votajt pl ghax qazziztu lalla u il kuhad atkom indanati ghax hadnilkom il gvern alek titkellem el

    • Fermina Daza says:

      Mur tghallem ikteb l-ewwel, injurant.

    • TinaB says:

      Sa minn Alla ghidtli ara li ivvotajt lil Labour, u kburi, ghax anqas kont ninduna, Adrian.

      “Hadnilkom il-gvern”. Intkom min intkom u ahna min ahna?

      ‘Lilna’ ma hadtulna xejn – jekk il-pajjiz imur tletin sena lura ha jbaghti kulhadd, ibda minnek, CUC.

      L-uniku zball kbir li ghamel gvern Nazzjonalista kien li ma ghamilx minn kollox u ma iffukax bizzejjed biex jelimina il-mentalita imn***a bhal tieghek, li f’hamsa u ghoxrin sena baqghet tintghagen fil-generazzjonijiet taghkhom bir-rizultat li flok il-poplu Malti fetah mohhu aktar kompla izid fl-injoranza grassa.

      • Izzie says:

        Il-ħmar taqtagħlu denbu, ħmar jibqa’ u l-iblah taqlagħlu għajnu jifraħ.

        Ħafna għamlu, msieken, 25 sena taħt id-dittatura Nazzjonalista (hekk igħidu, ma nafx kif jien qatt ma rajtha din id-dittatura) u jaħasra kemm batew… x’viljakkerija ta’ Gvern Nazzjonalista li kompla jżid l-istipendji, li bena sptar ġdid, li fetaħ skejjel ġodda, li ħoloq xogħol għal kulħadd, li ġab lil Malta rispett mingħand kull barrani, li għarukaża daħħalna fl-Ewropa (ara naqra hux, x’arroganza), li ried itejjeb kollox f’Malta… hemm BOLOH… issa tafu xi tliftu, oqogħdu tpaxxew u ilagħqu l-feriti meta jibdew jaslu l-batosti, u tgħidux li ħadd ma qalilkom…

        Sewwa qed tgħid Tina… qatta ĊWIEĊ b’IQ ta- piżella ddeċidew. Imsieken, taf int, wara 25 sena ta’ ġid xtaqu daqsxejn ċejċa. Aħleb, Ġuż! U ssikka dak iċ-ċinturin.

    • nev says:

      Adrian, qalb ta’ qalbi, huwa minhabba l-attegjament puwerili u l-mentalita’ neolitika ta’ nies bhalek illi tal-Labour qattghu 25 sena isahnu l-bank ta’ l-opposizzjoni.

    • Paul says:

      This is hilarious.

    • Catsrbest says:

      Liema lalla? Tas-serduk – dak ta’ Franco?

    • paleblue my foot! says:

      Adrian jidher car li ma` tafx tikteb bil-Malti and you`re probably illiterate as far as English goes. This blog is not for you….you are out of your depth.

  8. Izzie says:

    What the hell is wrong about being a Freemason? Ah, yes, something called conflict of interest perhaps.

    But not only that – do me a favour and I’ll repay you somehow, maybe by selling you off very cheaply a bit of property swindled in one way or another from some poor old illiterate chap, because, you know, Freemasons are very charitable in their own dens.

    I understand why our Jeffrey guy is there too. He sure has a couple of projects in mind.

    • P. Camilleri says:

      ‘What the hell is wrong about being a Freemason?’
      Is Freemasonary still a SECRET organisation?
      Why does a clique of the people in power have to share a secret ?
      AND ‘I guess some minorities have more rights than others on the island (Malta).
      Who is stopping you from becoming a freemason. Only them, because their menbership is selective.

  9. gel says:

    Yes and with Carol Peralta there was another magistrate who was posted in Gozo and who was Carol’s buddy, Dennis Montebello. They also had some property together.

    This particular family have been voting Labour since this other magistrate was not appointed judge and his brother insists that he is Nationalist but votes Labour. He gets so upset when he is referred to as a Laburist.

    • Insider says:

      Carol Peralta and Denis Montebello were the only two magistrates posted in Gozo, working not only in the lower courts (as magistrates) but also in Gozo appeal courts (functioning like judges), for a long time. Thus, they were treated like kings in Gozo.

      If someone who is really interested in justice could just look up some interesting cases then, for instance, how Magistrate Montebello applied to have his marriage separation case heard in Gozo, in front of Magistrate Peralta.

      Few years later, Magistrate Peralta bought a property in Gozo and declared himself a resident of Gozo…and had his marriage separation case heard in front of Magistrate Montebello.

      How nice! Friends in need are friends in deed.

      I happened to know some close friends of his children, who told me that years later when they came across their father’s separation contract, how they felt for their poor mother! Being upset is really understatement.

      • Nicholas Peralta says:

        Mr. “Insider” I would appreciate if you would not mis-quote me or any of my siblings on this matter or any other. I do not know who you are or if you indeed are a friend of a close friend but I can assure you that you are misinformed!

        I would also greatly appreciate it if you would not spread false rumours about me or any of my family just because they were heard along the grapevine! My family is neither your business nor anyone else’s to discuss on the internet!

    • Just Jack (JJ) says:

      Whilst mentioning Magistrate Montebello and his ‘property’, one cannot but ponder on a very nice and intricate story to write, about how a certain family gained the land and left some poor relations to a ‘stiratrice’ landless. A good novel to write, with some backup information to be found in some convent in Vittoriosa … there they might know.

      • Luisa says:

        Hi JJ, how is it possible to contact you, plz, since this news that I`ve just read concerns my family. We`ve been trying to follow this case for years. Thanks.

  10. Insider says:

    Magistrate Carol Peralta started voting Labour after Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami tried to have him impeached for domestic violence and corruption, etc. apart from him being a Freemason, but he told the prime minister that he had left the Freemasons already when being appointed as a magistrate.

    Many people knew that one of his girlfriends, a pretty Chinese woman called Yumei, who at the time was living in his Sliema Windsor Terrace flat with him, went to the prime minister to report him (he was a magistrate already) for domestic violence because he fractured or dislocated her elbow during one of their regular fights.

    Yumei claimed Magistrate Peralta hit her regularly and he claimed that she was a liar and crazy.

    She claimed that he forced her to have an abortion abroad when she told him that she was pregnant, and so on. This colourful and resouceful Yumei was known to have been keeping a diary, written in Chinese, which recorded much “evidence” of his unbecoming behaviour as a magistrate.

    When Prime Minister Fenech Adami tried to have him impeached, Carol Peralta had Dr Manuel Mallia – now Minister of Justice, Police, the Army and Broadcasting – and a strong legal team to defend him. Many of them were working behind the scenes.

    Of course, the prime minister could not manage to have two-thirds of the parliament behind him for the impeachment to go through.

    Interestingly, someone who claimed to be his Freemason ‘brother’, anonymously telephoned Yumei and gave her friendly advice to be careful and not to be like some women who might just disappear off Dingli Cliffs or somewhere.

    The clever woman, of course, withdrew her allegation and apologised for her “false report out of anger and jealousy”.

    So, there you go, a worthy Hollywood story. A beautiful oriental woman rescued by a charitable magistrate from Dubai when she was working her charm there on rich men…endless fights of love and hate. Finally, the woman moved on to some more powerful or richer men, and one of them got fed up with her when she threatened to cause trouble with his wife, and enrolled the then Police Commissioner’s help to deport her for illegally staying in Malta.

    She dramatically fell ill in the airport and claimed to have an “unusual heart pain” and had to be sent to St Luke’s hospital cardiac unit. While cardiologists found nothing wrong with her heart, she threatened suicide and was sectioned to the Psychiatric Ward. While having her army of magistrate/judge friends helping her cause, she later on told some friends that some magistrate gave her useful advice, which she followed to the T: getting herself married to a Maltese citizen ASAP. She did marry, to a very helpful but also grateful man. She waited for her Maltese passport, set herself free from her husband and then, wait for it, she sued the police and St Luke’s Hospital for having detained her.

    Well, the rest is history, indeed.

    • Izzie says:

      I happen to know that Chinese lady you mention, the one who also had opened a Chinese restaurant in Paceville.

      Of course, this half-Jap half-Chinese woman had a lot of verve and quite a temper sometimes, but she was some men’s desirable toy too. Meanwhile she was learning to survive in this social jungle of rich men, important people, VIPs and magistrates… and yes, it was much like a Hollywood drama. In comparison, Dallas, Dynasty and Beautiful were shamed almost.

    • Wilson says:

      She still cooks ok.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Met Jumei a number of times years ago. Mostly hung out at Peppino’s before getting mixed up with ‘hoi pulloi’ Pretty little thing and knew it. Always wondered what happened to her. Thanks for the update.

    • Qeghdin Sew says:

      Jesus Christ.

  11. mc says:

    You should have seen a couple of shop owners in the square in Victoria coming out of their shops to shake hands with him. If people admire his sort I just can’t understand what values are cherished in this country.

    • Little bird says:

      Well, somebody could try to have a word with his current girlfriend Maria, who is from Gozo. Maria and her husband have been running some business in Victoria for years.

      She might be able to tell you why those shop owners would come out to shake his hands. Could it be that they are grateful for the favours…oops, for the help he gave them when he was one of the two magistrates posted in Gozo long ago?

      She and her then husband certainly seemed grateful enough when they had a court case in front of him. When prime minister tried to get him impeached, one of the charges was he was having an affair with Maria.

      Of course, it was only village gossip and his Maria had to swear on oath that they were not having an affair.

      However, if one is to talk with his ex girlfriends or one of his former wives, the story would be very interesting.

    • Paul says:

      Well, the majority of the cafeowners in Victoria are Labour supporters…especially those in St. Francis Square, where JPO was having a coffee with his chick.

  12. beingpressed says:

    Did Eddie Fenech Adami have a problem with Freemasons in general? Surely there would have been or still are Freemasons in both parties? Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

    • beingpressed says:

      Austin Gatt claimed to have had a list? What great journalists we have in Malta. Did anyone pursue this list? Maybe some of our journalists or media are freemasons?

  13. makjavel says:

    Free masonery is a secret society where MONEY comes first and the perfect practice of the KLIKKA is a way of living.

    This is usually a way to quick promotions for friends of friends.

    The converse becomes if you are not in, then you are out.

    The secrecy around Freemasonery is a proof of the corruption that it manages.

  14. jojo says:

    I remember Montebello and Peralta way back in the 90s always out drinking at the disco tad-DIAZ in Xlendi. They were a fine example of the judiciary. They should have been impeached ages ago. The Freemasons saved them.

  15. On the square says:

    Freemasons are told that freemasonry is not a religion. When they enter they make an oath not to expose the masonic secrets.

    When they reach a certain grade they’re told that Freemasonry is THE religion not just a religion.

    Freemasonry was the cause of Michael Frendo’s downfall, even if he were not a freemason…do you recall the bus ticketing scandal?

    Freemasonry in Malta is inside information.

    Politicians who are Freemasons do not attack each other. Sant was right about criticizing the friendship between Mintoff and Guido…hbieb tal-hbieb!

    Freemasons could have been involved in innumerable heists which happened in Malta.

    Freemasonry covered up drug smugglers who were caught with kilos of heroin in their trucks and were accused in court for personal use of drugs and getting away with a suspended sentence.

    There is a totally Maltese lodge and some even say that there’s a Gozitan lodge in which BIG local businessmen are members and there main motivation is not the good old boy scout days.

    If there’s nothing wrong with Freemasonry, why they don’t just publish their members list?

    Freemasons do not like us to know about their existence on this tiny rock..

    Freemasonry erodes the fibre of our society, it does not make one a better man.

    Faith , Hope and Charity , now where did I read that?

  16. Bella Kumpanija says:

    Mhux hekk hux ghidlu lis-Sur Peralta. Il-qa**a minn dak li jkolla taghtik.

  17. Malta taghna lkoll says:

    Freemasonry exists everywhere. In Malta it’s particularly dangerous and annoying because of Malta’s size and because when certain bonds and goings-on are inexplicable in terms of any other creed or allegiance – the underlying reason is nearly always Freemasonry.

  18. janeff says:

    Here’s how it works: Authored by Carmel Grima who is the son of Mr. Grima in the following story:

    Time od Malta, Sunday, December 13, 2009, 11:28 by Carmel Grima, St Paul’s Bay

    Black Monday shooting: the truth will out

    Much has been written on Black Monday, glorifying one saint and demonising several sinners.

    I refer to Kurt Sansone’s version that an elderly man from Mosta had shot at Dom Mintoff’s office; to Laurence Grech’s contribution in A Tribute to Lino Spiteri (page 231): “An elderly man fired some shots at the door leading to the prime minister’s office”, and to Maria Camilleri’s eye-opening reference on Bondiplus to Edgar Mizzi’s version of events in his book, the incidents of October 15, 1979 seem to make out the victim to be a callous murderer.

    As a result, the Labour Cabinet, led by the untiring Lorry Sant, became the perfect government; Opposition Leader Eddie Fenech Adami the most saintly of saints; the two defence lawyers, the best around, obtained a sentence of life imprisonment for the madman at Mount Carmel Hospital; The Times ended up with a modern interior structure and new equipment installed thanks to the insurance money; and Mr Mintoff’s supporters’ rampage justified by the action and their reactions because of the course of events.

    The man’s family, on the other hand, had to suffer in silence and accept the lies fed to the Maltese media since 1979.

    But one day the truth will surface and the facts will become known that Karm Grima was no murderer but a simple and upright citizen who went to meet his Prime Minister, as was agreed weeks before with Mr Mintoff himself. He went to report, in writing, a misdemeanour by one of his senior ministers; that the PRO at Castille knew about Mr Grima’s intentions days before and informed the minister involved, and that it was a premeditated attempt on Mr Grima’s life by two men in the corridors of Castille to shut up anyone who complained against the regime.

    Unfortunately, four shots were fired at our father, two of them near misses, and three bullets were lodged in his body; this pushed us to the very edge and we had to swallow the untrue version of events fed to the Maltese by unscrupulous politicians.

    The aim was to close the chapter. We thought wisely that he who fights and runs away has at least the chance to fight another day.

    However, as too many big shots are involved in this frame-up, truth has to fight an uphill battle. It will certainly emerge if the two inquiries carried out by Magistrate (now Judge) Joseph Filletti and former Judge Godwin Muscat Azzopardi are found.

    Both established that Mr Grima did not shoot but was shot at three times and the bullets were still in his body when he passed away.

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