The police have filed charges against contractors Jeffrey and Peter Montebello, accusing them of bribing Noel Borg Hedley, the former secretary of Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.

Noel Borg Hedley, 67, of Gżira, admitted in court in May that he received money from the Montebello brothers to waive fees they owed on the sale of under-declared properties.

Mr Borg Hedley, who served with Mr Fenech when he was still Parliamentary Secretary in the Finance Ministry, was conditionally discharged for three years and given a perpetual interdiction.

The case against the contractors is expected to be heard before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli. 

Mr Fenech has categorically denied any knowledge of or connection with the case.

The Xemxija project ran into serious financial difficulty and remains on the drawing board, half of the Belmonte Heights property in Sliema was sold off after it remained undeveloped for years and the towers in Paola remain uninhabited years after being built.

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