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| - Maltese police said 11 people will be charged Saturday for alleged money-laundering, corruption and fraud, with reports suggesting the former chief of staff to ex-premier Joseph Muscat is among them. Keith Schembri had already said this week he expected to face charges following a probe into his dealings with Adrian Hillman, the former managing director of Allied Group, which owns the Times of Malta daily newspaper. He is alleged to have paid Hillman 650,000 euros ($780,000) between 2011 and 2015 through offshore bank accounts, for a deal for his company Kasco to provide machinery for a new printing press. In a Facebook post this week, Schembri strongly denied wrongdoing. Hillman, who is reportedly in Britain, has previously insisted he is innocent. The allegations were first reported by investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in October 2017 in a car bomb. She had alleged widespread corruption within Muscat's inner circle and after her death, her son accused the premier of presiding over a "mafia island". Muscat stepped down in January 2020 after protests over his handling of the probe into the journalist's murder. In a statement Saturday, Maltese police said that after two magistrate-led inquiries and investigations by the anti-money laundering squad, "11 people (nine men and two women) are going to be charged, while charges will also be issued against 20 companies". The suspects were not named, but police said they would be brought before a magistrate later Saturday, "charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering among other things". In his Facebook post, Schembri condemned the inquiry into his dealings with Hillman, calling it a "travesty of justice", but said he expected shortly to be charged. "Not because I committed a crime. For the establishment, the 'crime' I am guilty of is having formed part of Joseph Muscat's team that led to a number of electoral victories for the (Labour) party that I love so much," he wrote. He added: "I hope that the moment will come soon when I can clear my name from all allegations that they have been trying to damage me with." Schembri quit as Muscat's chief of staff in November 2019 after being named by the businessman suspected of orchestrating Caruana Galizia's murder, Yorgen Fenech. Schembri denies involvement. Fenech is currently awaiting trial for the assassination, while one of three men accused of carrying out the bombing last month pleaded guilty. Last year, Schembri was also arrested as part of an investigation into alleged kickbacks over Malta's sale of passports to wealthy foreigners -- another story that Caruana Galizia had reported on. He again has denied any wrongdoing. str-ar/spm
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