UPDATED 3: European Foundation for Freedom obtains Eur47,700 donations in “criminal money” through Sharon Ellul Bonici
The published records and accounts of the European Foundation for Freedom show that in 2011 and 2012, when Sharon Ellul Bonici was secretary to the board, the foundation received Eur31,700 in donations from Ryan Schembri, now known to be a criminal dealer and money-launderer who absconded from Malta last month, from his business partner Etienne Cassar, and two of their companies, Food World Ltd and Cassar & Schembri Ltd.
UPDATE: Another Eur10,000 were donated by Interaa Holdings Ltd, which is controlled by Etienne Cassar, Ryan Schembri and Ryan’s father Mario Schembri, who hold the majority of the shares. Adrian Agius (see earlier posts) is a director of this company.
UPDATE 2:A further Eur6,000 were donated by Uscom Ltd, a Maltese company owned and controlled by the Croatian Igor Ulic, an associate of Ryan Schembri, whose Croatian company Foodworld d.o.o. is Foodworld Ltd’s (company owned by Ryan Schembri and Etienne Cassar) counterpart in Croatia, where Schembri is wanted for money-laundering.
Sharon Ellul Bonici, the anti-EU campaigner and failed Labour Party EP candidate, is a close friend of Ryan Schembri.
UPDATE 3:The only other donation from a Maltese company or individual is that listed under ‘Carmelo Sciabaca’ for Eur6,000. That name should read Carmelo Sciabica. He describes himself as a “real estate property developer and imp/exp agent” based in Malta. He lives in Mellieha and appears to be an Evangelical Christian going by the ‘cheerleading for God’ posts on his Facebook Timeline. There is no indication of any business connection with Ryan Schembri.
L to R: Sharon Ellul Bonici, Robert Musumeci, Sharon’s brother and Labour Party activist Andy Ellul, who is a lawyer, and Andy’s girlfriend Claudia Cuschieri, who moved from Super One TV to the Office of the Prime Minister after March 2013 and from there to Minister Michael Farrugia’s office.
L to R: Labour Party activist Andy Ellul, formerly a policeman and now a lawyer, the chairman of the Malta Council of Science and Technology, and anti-EU campaigner and failed Labour Party EP candidate Sharon Ellul Bonici, who is Andy’s sister.
26 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Checkmate and a police summons, Kevin.
Someone owes an explanation.
When Sharon Ellul BonIci left a comment on Facebook re: Ryan Schembri and his small son simply stating “Like two bosses…”, did she mean Mafia Bosses or business leaders?
What a mahoosive mess.
Are investigative journalists in Malta on a long vacation?
Practically extinct.
We only investigate old drivers.
And Maltese clocks. We’ve also forgotten about power stations.
You remain a leading investigative force, Ms CG , and you go where others fear thread (or couldn’t be bothered to). You are doing the job of so many – including the Opposition.
Interesting… purpose foundations approved under the Voluntary Organisations Act – are completely exempt from income tax… insofar that they pursue a cultural, philanthropic or social scope..
…and the incentive for donating money to the foundation (remarkably scant research and articles posted on their own website) is that such donation is treated a ‘tax deductible’ expense
http://www.eurfreedom.org/content/support-us
So effectively, donating funds reduces the tax bill of the donor. The foundation which receives the endowment, pays no tax.
As the old Maltese saying goes;
‘Ghejdli ma min taghmilha u nghidlek min int.’
From where was all this money coming and why?
Should that be “Sciabica” instead of “Sciabaca”?
Some of the other donors are interesting too. Vlaams Belang (not Belong as written in the report) is a political party which wants to break up Belgium and declare Flanders independent.
They were formerly known as Vlaams Blok until they were dissolved by Belgian courts because of racism and “repeated incitement to discrimination.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlaams_Belang
Comment of the year:
Malta is swimming in money. Follow it, and you’ll find the truth.
Ah, you don’t know the half of it. We don’t just do the laundry for our neighbours to the north, but for those to the south as well.
The stench hangs heavy, my friends.
So I guess Malta’s status as a hub and strategic position are true then.
Gaddafi money is known to be closeted in Malta. Some of it at least is legally impeded, but a lot left our shores ages ago as anyone who has dealt with that regime will tell you. Follow the trail and find the culprits.
Carmelo Sciabica:
http://mt.linkedin.com/pub/carmelo-sciabica/49/915/a3
The other intriguing thing about this list is the number of spelling mistakes.
Why would Ryan Schembri finance an anti-EU foundation when EU membership made his particular trade so much easier?
Stupidity, perhaps?
If Sharon Ellul Bonici is a close friend, he would donate money to her cause whether he supports it or not. He may not even know what the foundation’s name is, let alone what it stands for.
Do you remember ‘hbieb tal-hbieb’?
It could be just a top-up account.
Christ, you couldn’t make it up.
2012 donor Godfrey Bloom is a founder/chairman of Sharon Ellul Bonici’s foundation. He thinks women are sluts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Bloom
On 20 September 2013, UKIP withdrew the party whip from Bloom after he struck journalist Michael Crick in the street, threatened a second reporter, and at the party’s conference referred to his female audience as sluts.