Revealed: Refalo’s ‘mafia villa’ proxy placed on ministry payroll

Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo awarded a government contract to a lawyer and proxy for the owner of the Qala villa he is squatting, which he said is owned by an unidentified “woman from Brescia”.

The villa has been linked to the late Mafia boss Totò Riina and is known to house the minister’s multi-million-euro art collection.

Lawyer Alfred Grech, 74, was described by Prime Minister Robert Abela as the intermediary representing an unnamed “woman from Brescia” who allegedly owns the property.

Investigations by The Shift show that Grech was awarded a €10,000 contract in 2022 to provide legal services to the Agricultural Bioresources Agency, now known as Agricultural Resources Malta, which falls under Minister Refalo’s remit.

Grech is not known to have any experience in the agricultural sector.

Questions sent to Refalo requesting details of this direct order, including its duration, scope, and the status of Grech’s engagements with his ministry, if any, went unanswered.

The minister was also asked by The Shift to provide copies of any contracts awarded to Grech or his legal firms since he assumed a ministerial role, and to provide details of his association with him. No replies were given.

Contacted by The Shift, Alfred Grech also declined to comment. “Don’t ask me anything about Refalo’s villa as I am not going to tell you,” Grech replied before hanging up.

The direct link established by The Shift between Minister Refalo and the leaseholder of his villa adds to questions surrounding the mysterious Qala villa and how it ended up in the minister’s possession.

Sources had already told The Shift that the villa had been left abandoned in the 1990s after the arrest of Toto’ Riina. However, suddenly, Refalo began occupying it.

Only recently did the public realise that the villa was not Refalo’s but was leased under an unusual, long-expired contract that no one has seen yet.

When approached by journalists, Refalo initially said he had acquired the villa before he got married. Yet he later changed his version, stating that he leased the property in 2002 through lawyer Alfred Grech. He never published the lease agreement or identified the real owner, even though he said that he had nothing to hide.

In a later version, the minister said the lease expired in 2018 but confirmed he has continued to occupy the property without any title, making him a squatter.

He has also insisted that no rent has been requested by the alleged owner, or by Grech, acting as her proxy, for the past eight years, since 2018. Grech was given ministry contracts after this year.

The villa has not been listed among Refalo’s declared assets. It is understood to have been used both as a residence and, more recently, to store part of the minister’s extensive multi-million-euro art collection.

While questions mount on how Refalo came to occupy the villa and retained it for decades through arrangements involving his consultant, now revealed, Prime Minister Robert Abela has said he was satisfied with the explanations provided by Refalo.

Yet neither Refalo nor Grech has disclosed further details about the owner’s identity – the so-called “woman in Brescia” – or presented any documents to show that a valid lease contract existed. Refalo has also declined to name the notary who drew up the lease agreement.

Alfred Grech, Refalo and Julia Farrugia Portelli’s sexual harassment case

The Shift’s investigations also uncovered court records that further establish close proximity between Refalo and Grech.

In 2012, Grech was charged with harassing then Labour journalist and now minister Julia Farrugia Portelli through repeated mobile phone messages of a sexual nature.

Grech was defended in court by Refalo, who at the time was serving as a Labour opposition MP.

The Court of Magistrates found Grech guilty of the abusive use of an electronic communications device. The judgment was later confirmed on appeal in 2013. He was fined €3,000 and ordered not to approach Farrugia Portelli.

His case was also reported to the Commission for the Administration of Justice, but no action was taken against him.

Separately, Grech was previously been found guilty of other offences, including drink-driving.

Grech had contested the general elections on the PN ticket in 1981 and is still practising as a lawyer at his Gozitan-based firm Cosyra Legal.

In 2005, he also set up Circle Communications Ltd with fellow Gozitan and current film commissioner Johann Grech. The company was later closed down.