Refalo stalls release of contracts given to lawyer linked to ‘mafia’ villa

Embattled Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo is refusing to publish details of government contracts awarded to lawyer Alfred Grech, the same individual identified as the proxy for the owner of the controversial Qala villa occupied by the minister for over twenty years.

Two months after The Shift filed a Freedom of Information request seeking copies of all contracts and payments issued to Grech or his firms through public funds, Refalo’s ministry has still failed to produce the documents. Instead, the ministry claimed it requires more time to “search through papers and documents” to identify the contracts requested.

The delayed response is raising further questions over the extent of Grech’s financial relationship with Refalo’s ministry and whether the lawyer has been repeatedly engaged through taxpayer-funded consultancies over the years.

In effect, Refalo’s request for an extension means the publication of these contracts will be delayed until after the elections at least.

The controversy follows revelations by The Shift that Grech, 74, received a €10,000 direct order in 2022 to provide legal services to the Agricultural Bioresources Agency, now operating as Agricultural Resources Malta, which falls under Refalo’s political responsibility.

Grech is not known to possess any expertise in the agricultural sector.

The same lawyer was publicly identified by Prime Minister Robert Abela as the intermediary representing an unnamed “woman from Brescia” who allegedly owns the Qala villa linked in Italian media reports to notorious mafia boss Totò Riina.

Despite repeated questions, neither Refalo nor Grech have published any documentation confirming the ownership of the villa, the existence of a valid lease agreement, or the identity of the notary who allegedly drafted the contract.

The Shift’s investigations established a direct connection between Refalo and Grech after the minister admitted that he leased the property through the lawyer in 2002. However, Refalo later changed his version several times.

Initially, the minister claimed he had acquired the villa before getting married. He later stated that the property was leased through Grech and that the agreement expired in 2018. Yet Refalo also admitted he continued occupying the villa after the lease expired and claimed that neither the owner nor Grech had requested rent payments for the past eight years.

The villa, which has never appeared in Refalo’s asset declarations, is understood to have been used both as a residence and to house part of the minister’s extensive art collection.

Sources told The Shift that the property had been abandoned in the 1990s following the arrest of Riina before Refalo moved in with his family, giving neighbours the impression that he owned the villa outright.

Further court records uncovered by The Shift also reveal longstanding ties between Refalo and Grech.

In 2012, Grech was found guilty of harassing Julia Farrugia, a ONE journalist at the time who now serves as the Inclusion Minister, through repeated, sexually explicit text messages.

At the time, Refalo, then serving as a Labour opposition MP, represented Grech in court as his lawyer. The guilty verdict was later confirmed on appeal, with Grech fined €3,000 and ordered not to approach Farrugia Portelli.

Grech had also been previously convicted of driving under the influence.

In 1981, Refalo’s proxy lawyer had unsuccessfully contested the 1981 general election on a Nationalist Party ticket.

Despite mounting questions surrounding the villa, Grech’s consultancy contracts, and the opaque arrangements surrounding the property’s ownership, Prime Minister Abela has so far declared himself satisfied with the explanations provided by Refalo.