Updated at 1.50pm with PD statement

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi “fall within the scope” of the 17 Black criminal investigation, police sources have confirmed.

Police investigators have told The Sunday Times of Malta that while it was true that their investigation was currently focused on the ownership of the once-secret offshore company, they would “eventually” also look into its alleged links to the two Politically Exposed Persons “and others”. 

Last month The Sunday Times of Malta reported a different police source saying the Economic Crimes Unit had begun investigating the company back in March when they had received an intelligence report naming Electrogas power station director Yorgen Fenech as the owner of 17 Black.

Mr Fenech, who is also the CEO of business giant Tumas Group, is one of the partners in the new €450 million gas-fired power station.

The mystery Dubai company first hit the headlines back in 2017 when it was reported on by the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

A year later it was identified in a leaked e-mail as one of two sources of income for the Panama companies Hearnville and Tillgate owned by Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri respectively.

Both have denied that any money was transferred to them.

But Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has come under mounting pressure for failing to take any action on the matter after Mr Fenech’s identity as the owner of the company was exposed in a joint investigation by Times of Malta and Reuters last month. 

Read: Labour are backed in the corner, says Delia

Dr Muscat has insisted he will wait for the judicial and law enforcement authorities to finish their inquiries and establish the facts before deciding on whether he should take any action against any members of his administration.

He has also said that he was informed that it was the company 17 Black, and not any members of his government, that was under police investigation.

His critics on the other hand have said the writing was already on the wall as the ownership of the companies and the PEPs’ planned financial relationship was based on documentary evidence and not mere allegations.

Police sources, meanwhile, have described the current situation as “politicised”, adding that this was not the ideal climate in which to conduct such a delicate investigation.

“This issue that everyone seems so concerned with, of whether PEPs are under investigation or not, is just playing with words. It is not something of interest to police, who instead have to focus on the task at hand – that of establishing all the facts,” one source said.  

It was explained that the investigative process in this case started with officers trying to establish the ownership of the contentious offshore company, by trying to get hold of evidence held in foreign jurisdictions.

The police would then look at what they describe as “real transactions” in and out of the company, and then at the relationship others may have had with the company.

It was at this last stage that PEPs and other persons of interest would be of direct interest to the police in their investigation, the source said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told The Sunday Times of Malta when contacted on Saturday that Dr Muscat had no role in the ongoing investigation.

“That is why he remains consistent that any action taken will be on the basis of concrete legal outcome,” the spokesman said.

Asked at which stage of the ongoing police investigation the Prime Minister would expect the two PEPs to resign if not from the very start, the spokesman was coy.

“In your questions you do not say that Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri are under investigation but that throughout the process they might fall ‘within the scope’ of the investigation.

“Last week we learnt that there is a police investigation on the Fekruna land deal, with former minister Jason Azzopardi probably falling within the scope of the investigation given his central role in the case as responsible minister back then,” the spokesman said, without going into further explanation.

The Fekruna expropriation case, which happened on the eve of the 2013 general election, is the subject of ongoing Public Accounts Committee hearings. Dr Azzopardi has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the case.

Investigations should not be tainted with political interference - PD

In a statement, the Democratic Party noted that it was the party which has tabled a motion of no-confidence in minister Mizzi and reiterated its calls for the Prime Minister to suspend Mr Schembri. 

"The police investigations into the facts surrounding 17 Black should not be tainted with political interference," the party said.