What Daphne reported, and what came of it

What she reported

From February 2016 Caruana Galizia reported that companies in Panama had been opened for people close to the centre of government, and later that a third structure, Egrant, existed. She named the minister Konrad Mizzi and the prime minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri in connection with two of the Panama companies.

Documents available at the time

The ICIJ Panama Papers leak of Mossack Fonseca records, published from April 2016, and the searchable ICIJ Offshore Leaks database, which lists the corporate records themselves.

What later evidence showed

The existence of the Panama companies connected to Mizzi and Schembri was confirmed by the leaked records and was never denied by either man, who said the structures were declared and lawful. Separate criminal proceedings on financial crime charges were later brought against both men; those proceedings are court records in their own right and are tracked on the court pages of this site.

What remains unknown

The ownership of Egrant was the subject of a magisterial inquiry whose conclusions were disputed by the Caruana Galizia family and by opposition politicians; the full inquiry record has not been published in complete form. The public record does not establish who, if anyone, beneficially owned Egrant.

Status: Partly established by leaked corporate records, partly unresolved.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Caruana Galizia reported on the award of the gas power station contract and on the people behind the private companies involved, including the involvement of the businessman Yorgen Fenech in the Electrogas consortium.

Documents available at the time

Public procurement announcements, company registry filings and parliamentary answers. Much of the contractual documentation was not public at the time and parts remain unpublished.

What later evidence showed

Later reporting by the Daphne Project consortium and Maltese outlets linked the offshore company 17 Black to Fenech. Malta's National Audit Office published audits examining the procurement process. Fenech was subsequently charged in connection with the assassination; that is a separate matter and is recorded on the court pages.

What remains unknown

Whether specific payments described in reporting were made, and for what purpose, has not been established by any published judicial finding. Several contractual documents remain unpublished.

Status: Reported and partly audited. Key questions remain open.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Caruana Galizia reported repeatedly on Malta's individual investor programme, on the intermediaries who sold passports and on the due diligence applied to applicants.

Documents available at the time

The programme's legal notices, the annual reports of the Office of the Regulator and published lists of naturalised persons in the Government Gazette.

What later evidence showed

The European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Malta over the scheme. On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Malta's investor citizenship scheme breached EU law. Malta said it would bring the scheme into line with the judgment.

What remains unknown

The full application and due diligence file for individual grants is not public, so specific allegations about named applicants cannot be independently verified from the public record.

Status: The legality of the scheme is now settled by the Court of Justice. Individual cases remain unverifiable from public documents.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Caruana Galizia and other journalists questioned the transfer of three public hospitals to a private concessionaire with no demonstrated track record in hospital operation.

Documents available at the time

The concession agreements as tabled in Parliament, National Audit Office reporting and company registry filings.

What later evidence showed

In February 2023 the Civil Court rescinded the hospitals concession, and the judgment used strong language about the conduct of the parties. Criminal proceedings connected to the concession were later brought against former officials; those proceedings are court records and their status is tracked separately.

What remains unknown

Criminal responsibility, where charges have been brought, has not been determined. A rescission judgment in civil proceedings is not a criminal finding against any individual.

Status: Concession rescinded in civil proceedings. Related criminal proceedings pending.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

At the time of her death Caruana Galizia was facing dozens of libel actions in Malta, and had had bank accounts frozen following a request by a government minister in a libel action. She also faced threatened proceedings from abroad.

Documents available at the time

Court filings in the Maltese civil courts and the precautionary warrant record, reported contemporaneously.

What later evidence showed

The public inquiry addressed the use of libel actions against her. The volume of pending actions against her at the time of her death has been described repeatedly in institutional reporting, including by Council of Europe bodies and press freedom organisations. The European Union subsequently adopted an anti-SLAPP directive and a recommendation, which the EU institutions themselves connect to the wider issue of abusive litigation against journalists.

What remains unknown

A complete, verified public list of every action pending against her at the date of her death has not been published in one place by an official body.

Status: Well documented in outline. A complete official register has not been published.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Caruana Galizia named the Dubai company 17 Black on her blog in 2017, describing it as a company connected to the Panama structures.

Documents available at the time

Leaked emails from the offshore service provider, later published by reporting consortia, and company registry data from Dubai.

What later evidence showed

In 2018 a consortium including Reuters and the Times of Malta reported that Yorgen Fenech was the owner of 17 Black. Fenech has denied wrongdoing in relation to the company. The identity of the second company named in the same documents, Macbridge, has been the subject of reporting but no judicial finding.

What remains unknown

No court has determined the purpose of any payment through these structures. Fenech's criminal proceedings concern the assassination and separate charges, and should not be treated as a determination of these financial questions.

Status: Ownership reported by multiple outlets. No judicial finding on the purpose of the structures.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Over three decades Caruana Galizia was subject to arson attacks on her property, the killing of her dog, official and unofficial pressure, and a sustained campaign of online abuse.

Documents available at the time

Police reports and contemporaneous news reports covering individual incidents.

What later evidence showed

The public inquiry examined the state's response to the risks she faced and made findings about the failure to protect her, and about the climate in which she worked. Those findings are recorded on the public inquiry pages in the inquiry's own terms.

What remains unknown

No person has been convicted for the earlier arson attacks or for the killing of her dog. Those matters remain unresolved on the public record.

Status: Documented. Earlier attacks remain unprosecuted.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03

What she reported

Running Commentary was her own publication and carries her reporting, her commentary and her allegations. The two are not the same and this site does not treat them as such.

Documents available at the time

The posts themselves, with their publication dates.

What later evidence showed

The blog is maintained online. Preserving it, and preserving independent archival copies of individual posts, is a live information loss risk because the archive depends on a single domain.

What remains unknown

Some posts cite documents that were not published alongside them. Where this site relies on a post, it says so and does not treat the underlying allegation as established.

Status: Primary material, maintained by the family and the foundation.

Last reviewed 2026-09-03