WEBVTT - Episode 9: Escape by Private Yacht 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:04.560 A note to listeners, this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence. 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.119 The fight against corruption and the decimation of the rule 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.000 of law must continue. Malta is in a dangerous place, 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:17.279 and now we can no longer say that it is 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.319 corrupt politicians who have brought it to this point, for 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.400 it can no longer be denied that these corrupt politicians 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:32.640 are a reflection of society. 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:39.520 Abomi nineteen February twenty nineteen, nearly eighteen months since Daphanese's murder, 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.360 and tonight's a party is in full swing. 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:48.920 At this point, it's been four months since Jurgen Fanek, 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.280 mister alleged Mastermind, was publicly identified as the owner of 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.640 seventeen Black, a company which planned to make two million 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:01.280 dollars worth of secret payments to government ministers. At this point, 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.920 two mister Finnick is now a suspect in the official 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:09.520 police investigation into Dapanese murder. Secretly watched by police, mister 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.920 Fennick is also being discussed at the highest level of government. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.640 But if Malta is in a political crisis, you wouldn't 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.800 know it on this night. Instead, here in the elegant 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:25.000 seventeenth century Gaginti Palace, the official country residence of the 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.480 Multese Prime Minister. A small birthday party is on the 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.920 way and it looks like it's going pretty well. 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.839 Tonight, Prime Minister Joseph Mouscat is forty five years old 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.479 and he's celebrating. This is a leaked video from the night. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.839 You can see the Prime Minister and his wife leading 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.200 the singing of an old Maltese political song with lyrics 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.520 adapted to be about the birthday boy. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.920 Joseph Moscot is grinning from his ear, bouncing up and 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.520 down in front of the crowd, hand pumping the air. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:06.200 His wife, Michelle, elegantly dressed, stands by him, waving a 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:11.240 bottle of champagne. It's clear everyone is having a great time. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.400 And why shouldn't they at this point. Joseph Moscatt is 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.359 one of the most successful politicians in modern Maltese history, 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.560 elected to office twice, but this will be the last 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:24.560 birthday he will spend in Grigeni Bellis. 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:29.920 By the end of this year, his government will have 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:34.760 fallen and Joseph Muscat will have resigned in disgrace, brought 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.320 down by the aftermath of Daphne's murder and the corruption 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:39.840 scandals that led to it. 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.200 And there's another reason this throughout the forty something birthday 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:44.320 party is memorable. 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.800 He doesn't pop up in the leak video, but there's 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:52.920 someone else here at the Palace tonight, Jogan Fennik, mister 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:59.000 alleged mastermind. In spite of all the recent events, he's 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.480 been invited to this intimate birthday gathering for the Prime 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.359 Minister's closest friends and relatives. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.800 And as Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is well aware of 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.640 Jurgen Fenec's role and the scandal that has shaken his 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.200 government to its core. That scandal is the main reason 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.280 why he has to repeatedly deny that his government has 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.720 a problem with corruption. Definitely would have said this makes sense. 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.560 She believed that Malta's current crop of politicians, and this 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:28.920 Prime Minister in particular, fundamentally don't see why corruption in 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.480 public life is a problem. So long as it is 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:35.240 kept secret. Why does it matter if minister has received 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.160 secret payments from rich entrepreneurs and businessmen. It's none of 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.200 your business. And the Prime Minister is also well aware 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.200 that Phenek is also now a suspect in Malta's most 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:46.360 famous murder. 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:51.360 Case, and yet here he is at the Prime Minister's birthday. 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.680 Any applications for pardons or plea deals for people arrested 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.480 in the murder case will have to be personally signed 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.360 off by the Prime Minister and his cabinet, and on 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:06.119 this evening, according to press reports, Jogan Fennec makes sure 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.800 to leave a good impression with the Prime Minister. His 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:14.760 birthday presence for mister Muscat is thoughtful, personal and very expensive. 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.280 Yogen Fennec hence over three rare vintage bottles of Petrus 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.919 red wine from France, one of the most expensive wines 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.320 in the world. One bottle is from the air of 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.360 Joseph Mousquart's birth, the other two are from the air 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.880 of Mouscat's twin daughter's birth. Total estimated resale value of 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:38.000 more than six thousand US dollars. Malta's Ministerial Code forbids 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.560 ministers from accepting gifts which quote might be deemed to 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.400 create an obligation, real or imaginary. 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:49.280 It's worth repeating. All applications for pardons or plea deals 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.920 for people arrested in the Daphne murder case will have 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.880 to be personally signed off by Joseph Muscat and his cabinet, 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.560 and it's also worth repeating a at this point, Yogen 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:06.080 Fenek is suspected of commissioning the hits against Daphne Please 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:07.280 yet to be arrested. 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.080 Prime Minister Joseph Mosquat will later claim that he never 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:16.479 met Jurgen Fenek in February twenty nineteen. Later still, he 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.720 will admit that Fenek was at the birth day party, 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.400 but claimed that the invitation was signed off by law 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.640 enforcement as part of a policy of acting normally towards 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:29.919 Fenek to avoid arousing his suspicion. Acting normally in this 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.479 case includes accepting thousands of dollars worth of gifts from 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.840 a man known for bribing politicians. Asked about his birthday 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.520 party in an interview with The Times of Malta, Joseph 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:46.279 Mosquat said, quote on the Gurghanty event, the invite was 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.440 issued following consultations with the Malta Security Services. This is 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.280 not the first time I have been slandered with false 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.520 accusations and even evidence which at the end it transpired 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.960 to be fabricated. I am denying all these unfounded alegations, 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:07.040 including this latest figurement of someone's very vivid imagination, and. 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:11.320 On this night, another man allegedly involved in Daphne's murder 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.120 isn't that far away from the party either. Melvin the 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:19.000 middleman Jorgan Fennik needed a lift to and from the 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.760 Gagerti Palace, and so Melvin himself acted as chauffeur on 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.760 the night. While the alleged architect of Daphnese's murder is 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.120 partying with the Prime Minister, his middleman is waiting outside 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:32.920 in the car park. 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:42.440 Welcome to Malta from iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci. 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:46.240 I'm Manuel Delia and I'm John Sweeney and this is 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.080 Crooks Everywhere, Episode nine, Escape. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:07:02.560 By Yacht, So You're going. Is one of MARTA's richest men. 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:07.920 He is one of the bosses of the Hilton chain and. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.520 Malta Hermann Greek, the editor in chief of the Times 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:12.080 of Malta. 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:16.160 He kept pretty much of a low profile and you know, 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:21.320 not many people knew him before his name cropped up 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:22.960 in connection with the murder. 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.920 Photographs of Jorgen Fennek show at all six to four 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:32.080 or more muscular guy bald, something of the well dressed 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:37.320 FuG about him with a taste for designer sunglasses. 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:38.760 A cartoon image of a mafioso. 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:46.560 And he is a person who he was very close 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:51.040 to many people and governments, and this came across from 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:55.600 follow up investigations we carried out, and it showed that 0:07:55.760 --> 0:08:02.240 he had he used his contacts in governments for his er. 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:05.920 You know, I wouldn't say, I need to be careful 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:10.360 how to word this, but he definitely uses contacts in governments. 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.960 Which is one way of explaining Jorgen fennex presence at 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.640 the Prime Minister's bash at Gagenti Palace. But by the 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:24.680 time of that party, Jorgen Fennex world is already in 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:31.400 free full By now, his contacts may also have tipped 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.840 him off that he's being watched as a suspect in 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.960 Daphne's murder. It's not clear if he knows this or not, 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:42.800 but he is under surveillance and his phone is being tapped. 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:45.719 And then there is a problem that the men that 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.240 he allegedly hired to organize Daphanese's murder are also beginning 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:50.760 to crack. 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.640 As we know, the team of contract killers that killed 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:01.600 Dephanie have already been arrested and are awaiting trial. Jurgen 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.040 Fenex's access to secret information about the investigation was insufficient 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:10.480 to stop that happening. One of them, Vincent Dekough, has 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.760 now begun talking to the police in the hope of 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.400 a plea deal or pardon. Jurgen Finex's old friend, Melvin, 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.920 the middleman in the crime, has also begun to fold 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:25.599 under the pressure, depressed, drinking too much and sometimes suicidal. 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.840 A few months before the Prime Minister's birthday party, that 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:34.160 situation reaches breaking point. Melvin admits to Phenek that he 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.840 has been secretly recording all their conversations about the murder 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:43.640 and the cover up. He admits that he's betrayed him. 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.720 Probably Also around the same time, Melvin gives Fenek a 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.959 copy of a letter. It's one page long and all 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.959 in capital letters, and it's from the heart. In party reads. 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.920 Ji A Melvin telma At not ill informatio. I Melvin 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:05.280 Teoma am providing this information that I was the middleman 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.720 in the case concerning Miss Karwana Galicia. I am relaying 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.800 this proof so that you will know who hired me 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.440 and paid for the body in Bomba. I am doing 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.880 this because I realized that these two people Jurgen Finek 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.040 and Keach Cambriel Cosco were working to get rid of 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.679 me as well. So I prepared this proof so that 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:27.079 if I am eliminated, you will know the entire storya Cola. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:32.720 It's a confession but also a threat. Melvin the Middleman 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.360 is cashing in his insurance policy. He wants Jurgen Finek 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.720 to know that at any time he could take any 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.520 of these materials to the police. In fact, Melvin has 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.760 no evidence that Keach Cambri paid for Daphni's murder or 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.600 is planning to kill him, but he does know that 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.760 Cambri is close to Urgen Finek, and it was Cambri 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.360 who organized Melvin's imaginary government job. 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.160 The message is clear, kill me now if you like, 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.640 but the truth will get out, and if I die, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:04.640 you will be the main suspect. 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.840 We don't know exactly how Fannek responds initially what this 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:18.520 moment of complete betrayal feels like. During their decades of friendship, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.479 the years at the racetrack, the shared hobbies and gambling holidays, 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.800 Melvin the Middleman has always had the junior, more submissive 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:30.920 role in the relationship, the grateful helper, hoping for favors, 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.440 driving mister Fanneck around Malta, dropping off gifts of food, 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:40.760 or laying racing bats for him, or allegedly hiring hitman 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:45.720 to kill a journalist. Now Melvin is reversing all of that, 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.920 telling one of the richest men in Malta that he 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.160 too has power and that he shouldn't be taken for granted. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.920 That he is prepared to bring them both down if 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.600 he needs to, not the kind of thing that most 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:04.280 friendships can weather. But whatever each of them are thinking 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:08.120 at this time, they continue to work together and to communicate. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.920 Fennec continues to pass on secret information about the police investigation. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.640 For his part, Melvin doesn't yet carry out his threat 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.920 of sharing his archive of evidence with the authorities. At 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:23.360 the same time, he continues to do favors for Jorgan Fanec, 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.040 like driving him to the Gurganty birthday party and so. 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.320 On the surface, it seems as though nothing has changed 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.840 between them, but we now know that soon after Jorgan 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.400 alleged mastermind, Fanec has other things on his mind. 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:56.040 Two grenades, two glock pistols, two machine guns, a scorpion 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.120 which is a type of rifle, and eight hundred bullets 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.400 together with Silence, says for the pistols, this is interesting. 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.439 Jason as a party, Daphnese family's lawyer has a shopping 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.880 list of some of the things that organ Phenac tries 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.800 to buy on the Dark Web. This weapon's buying spree 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.920 comes a few weeks after the organ Phenic discovers that 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:22.320 Melvin the Middleman has been secretly taping their incriminating conversations 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:27.400 on the iPhone in his sock. In fact, that particularly 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.439 for weapon buying spree doesn't work, those purchases are blocked, 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:33.160 but others are not. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:38.959 And in another separate purchase, Fennek had received an email 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.359 assuring him that a twenty gram shipment of potessium cyanite 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.679 had been shipped to him that particular morning. Potessium cyanide 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.560 it's a chemical that releases a highly toxic gas. 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.160 To be clear, we don't know what Phanek has in mind, 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.240 or whether he has anyone in mind when he tries 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.200 to buy these things. The Dark Web weapons buying spree 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.920 happens in November twenty eighteen, a year after Daffie's murder 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.040 and around the time that The Times of Malta revealed 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.920 he was the owner of seventeen Black. What we do 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:15.200 know is that Melvin the middleman certainly fears for his life. 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.080 He must worry that even his archive of secret recordings 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.400 won't be enough to keep him safe from Urgen Fennec. 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.320 I am more than sure that he wanted to get 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:29.320 ridol melventeoma. No doubt getting rid of Melventella would have 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.440 removed the link between Rinel Fedec mastermind and the de Georgios, 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:35.720 ensuring his impunity. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.120 But the sheer number of deadly weapons organ Fennec is 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.880 attempting to buy is also suggestive. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.920 I have no doubt, I am morally convinced, not just me, 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:51.120 that those purchases were made to assassinate a number of people, 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:58.080 including Melvin Tema. So eight hundred bullets, rifles, pistols, grenades 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.680 were definitely not for one person. The poetassium cyanide twenty 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:08.120 grams twenty grams are more than enough, more than enough 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.360 to kill two people at the least. 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.280 Whatever the purpose of these gruesome purchases, they suggest that 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.960 Jurgen Phenec fees things are rapidly moving towards a crisis. 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.960 The situation with Melvin is on a knife edge. The 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:26.000 Daphne projects. Journalists are closing in and the multi police 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.280 are now watching the movements of Jugen Fennec and Melvin 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.520 the Middleman, and they're tapping Jugen Fenex's phone. The evidence 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:38.480 for their involvements in Daphne's murder keeps on mounting. 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.280 And the strain of it all is showing on organ 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.680 phenac tool. As his cocaine habit drastically increases, people start 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.560 to notice him acting erratically, but. 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:54.000 The key moment of crisis doesn't come. Instead of arrests 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:58.160 or poisoning by potassium cyanide, there is a strange, uneasy 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.800 stalemate for nearly a year. It seems as though, for 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.520 a while longer the wealth and influence of Jurgen Fennek 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.040 is still enough to hold off the consequences of his 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:10.080 alleged crime. 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.760 Still, no more arrests in the investigation into Dafanie's murder. 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:20.640 Melvin the Middleman remains at large and afraid for more 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.440 these anti corruption campaigners like myself, this period is one 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:28.440 of the real low points after Dafni's death. As journalists, 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.520 we know the police knew about Melvin the Middleman. We 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:36.520 know they know about Jurgen Fennek. We keep that knowledge 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:40.520 to ourselves not to tip off suspects. But as months 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.640 roll by, it feels more and more like we are 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:47.040 being complicit in some conspiracy to let those with money 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:49.000 and contacts to live above the law. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.040 Deafhnely's son Matthew becomes so frustrated at the failure to 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.200 arrest Melvin the middleman, but he says he's attempted to 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.000 start spray painting Melvin's name on wolves just to gain 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:00.640 a reaction. 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.560 It feels as if Daphne's murder will become like so 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:09.200 many other contract killings in Malta, unsolved and eventually quietly forgotten. 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.560 At this time as well, the second half of twenty nineteen, 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.880 John and I are also writing Murder on the multa 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.679 express our book on Daphne's death, co written with mafia 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:29.919 expert Carlo Bonini. Ahead of publication, we ask Jurgen Fanek 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.000 via his lawyers to comment on allegations that he and 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:37.440 his company, the Tomask Group Limited, are involved in illegal activity, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.840 and we name Jurgen Fanec as one of a number 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:45.160 of possible culprits in Daphne's murder. His lawyers write back 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.000 to us to say, in part. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:53.440 Mister Finnick categorically rejects any allegations, assertions and auth suggestions 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.639 made in his regard as completely baseless and unfounded. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.520 We also receive legal threats from his lawyers trying to 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:05.160 dissuade us from publishing. We later discover that Fanek makes 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.199 inquieties with a London law firm to sue me for 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.240 a round seventy million UK pounds around eighty nine million dollars, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:14.880 Like I'll ever have that money to pay them by loose. 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:20.400 Frustration is also building at another point because investigators from 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.200 other European countries have been brought in to help find 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.720 Japanese killers. Europot is now involved. 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:30.120 That's the agency that coordinates different European police forces when 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.400 their investigations take them across borders. 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:37.280 Investigators there learn about Melvin the Middleman's role and about 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:42.639 his archive of secret recordings, and they are incredulous that 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.440 he still remains at large. Eventually, they threaten to walk 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:50.440 away from the case completely until action is taken, and 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:56.320 so at last, Multa's police hatch a plan for Melvin's arrest. 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.280 The strategy is this take him down for money laundering initially, 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.680 rather than his role in Daphne's murder directly. The crackdown 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.600 will start dramatically with a surprise police raid, a search, 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:14.560 and Melvin the Middleman's arrest. 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:19.119 But perhaps not surprisingly, the underworld is more than ready 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.399 for this. News of the plan is leaked to Melvin 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.359 the Middleman well in advance, just as the original swat 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.439 rate to arrest Dephane's assassins at the Potato Chat had 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:33.360 been Jurgen Fannek and two of his goal betweens give 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.200 Melvin a precise date to expect the raid. He's given 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:41.280 a full month's warning. According to Melvin. They even promise 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.920 to list the areas in his property that will be searched, 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:46.320 so that he can tie the up and ensure nothing 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:51.359 incriminating is found. According to Daphne's son Paul's research, the 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.640 name of the arresting officer is also passed to Melvin 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:57.400 and the fact that he will be helpful. 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:10.600 After the arrest. The interrogation will also be stage managed, 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:16.200 with questions and suggested answers being sent by contacts inside 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:20.560 the police to Melvin the Middleman well in advance. Like 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:24.080 a teasing student, Melvin has been given a chance to 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:28.560 see the exam paper early until the best answers for 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:30.760 top marks. 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:35.399 When the date of the surprise raid is rescheduled, Melvin 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.239 the Middleman is upset. He explains that the new date 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.600 is inconvenient, clashing with the prize draw for his illegal 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.080 lottery and costing him money. See if you can speak 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.200 to him so with it in two weeks, he suggested 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.000 to Jurgen Fanek, almost as if trying to postpone an 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.560 inconvenient work meeting or a dentist's appointment. 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:55.320 And perhaps this is also a sign of how far 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:58.720 Melvin the Middleman has come, how the balance of power 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.600 in his relationship with you Organ Fennik, who has also 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.600 since he started collecting evidence of their crimes. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.800 In the event, Fanek has bad news, he says even 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:11.280 he has no way to stop or delay the arrest, 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.560 but he will try to lessen the disruption to Melvin's family. 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:20.080 Yogen Fennec also promises that Melvin the Middleman will be 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:23.399 bailed quickly and that Fennek himself will be waiting outside 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.040 the prison gates to meet him. Afterwards, they'll get snacks 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:31.199 to celebrate. He suggests the traditional multi spastries called pastizzi. 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.200 It will be a great reunion between old friends. 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.200 But in order for Melvin to get all this support 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:41.280 and assistance, there's just one obstacle, one thing that he 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:46.160 needs to do first. Jason as a party later cross 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.560 examined Melvin the middle Man in court. 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:54.119 He was repeatedly told to destroy the evidence he had 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:55.760 on Jurgenzhenek. 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:00.479 It keeps on being mentioned. Jorgen Fhennic texts him asking 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.440 to ensure that before the arrest. 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:05.120 Be one hundred percent everywhere is clean. 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.640 And Thomas said, thankfully, I refuse to destroy the evidence 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:14.560 because it was thanks to those staves that I could 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:18.560 remain alive and eventually turn state witness. 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.280 When the raid does happen, it takes place earlier than 0:22:27.320 --> 0:22:31.359 the agreed date and with a different officer in charge. 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:35.000 Melvin's at the wheel and his car is suddenly cut 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:39.440 off by police vehicles. On the passenger seat is a 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.240 small ice cream box, which he grabs as he's being 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:45.320 taken in. Inside the box is a jumble of paper 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:50.760 and USB pen drives his precious evidence archive. And although 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.119 he's being arrested for money laundering, Melvin the Middleman is 0:22:54.160 --> 0:22:57.960 so panicked or so relieved that he immediately says that 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:00.160 he wants to talk about. 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:07.200 Them, and with that the dam is broken. You're a 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:09.720 poll take charge of the ice cream box archive in 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:13.040 its contents. It's immediately put on a plane to the 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:17.159 Hague to avoid tampering. Melvin the middleman quickly applies for 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:19.600 a pardon for all his crimes in exchange for a 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:24.200 full confession. When Organ Phanic hears this, his own feelings 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:28.560 of panic and paranoia begin to spiral, perhaps accelerated by 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:32.480 drug use. He begins to work frantically on a new plan. 0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:41.240 The alleged mastermind Thanak is now going on the run. First, 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:44.679 he and his brother relocate to a remote villa in 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:48.399 Malta to figure out the options. Organ Fane's personal doctor 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:52.679 overhears some of their discussions and later testifies about what 0:23:52.840 --> 0:23:59.320 is said. Apparently, the conversation ranges widely, playing with ideas 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:05.399 for a place refuge, as though planning a package holiday Tunisia, France, Mexico, Dubai, 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:10.840 private jet, or exit by fishing boat. Each strategy has 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:15.160 its pros and its cons. Organ Fennec texts his uncle 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.720 about one concern. In translation, the text reads. 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:21.320 If I pick it up in the EU, I'll end 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:22.600 up in Europol's hands. 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:26.800 Another message shows him agreeing with his brother that there 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:28.440 is no turning back now. 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:31.680 It's probably better a why the ways you suggested and 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:32.760 leave for good. 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:38.879 Records also show Fenex desperately transferring huge sums of cash 0:24:38.920 --> 0:24:41.439 around the world. At one point, he begins messaging a 0:24:41.480 --> 0:24:43.560 pilot in a private jet company to see if he 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:47.520 can hire a plane. Jorgen Fanex's uncle warns against this, 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:51.280 a private jet is now too risky, the airport is 0:24:51.320 --> 0:24:54.560 being watched. Better to leave in Fanex personal Yocht. The 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:57.920 same doctor describes Fanec as high during these discussions. 0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:06.160 Eventually a plan of escape emerges, using multiple forms of transport, 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:08.600 crossing several countries in a few days. 0:25:10.840 --> 0:25:15.000 The escape plan is this, late at night, unobserved, Jurgen 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:17.760 Fannek will board his private yacht in the marina outside 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:22.000 his luxury apartment. He'll have large amounts of cash with 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:26.080 him and passports. The yachts captain will make for Pozzalo 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:29.000 in Sicily on the pretense that the boat needs repairs. 0:25:31.119 --> 0:25:36.760 From Sicily, Fannek will travel by track to France. In Nice, 0:25:37.200 --> 0:25:40.320 an untraceable car will be waiting for him, and from 0:25:40.400 --> 0:25:44.159 there on to the next location. They agree that credit 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:50.439 cards are to be avoided too much of a security risk. 0:25:52.640 --> 0:25:56.920 The details sound wild and extravagant, a James Bond fantasy 0:25:57.040 --> 0:25:59.720 of going on the run, but I don't think it 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:02.840 is far fetched. Venneck has a lot going for him 0:26:02.880 --> 0:26:05.560 as a fugitive. He is used to having his wealth 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:10.679 stashed in anonymous companies and virtual pirate caves around the world, 0:26:11.640 --> 0:26:14.600 and his wealth also has the potential to smooth over 0:26:14.720 --> 0:26:17.480 many of the obstacles that fugitives might face. 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:21.160 And then there's the question of who will chase him. 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:24.200 He knows that many in Molta's government and law enforcement 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:27.720 would rather never take the stand in a trial. Too 0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:31.440 many people are too compromised by what he knows. It's 0:26:31.440 --> 0:26:34.520 already proved hard enough bringing him to justice in Malta, 0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:38.399 let alone from a place like Dubai or Mexico. So 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:41.760 the real question is can he first make it off 0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:42.360