A network of criminals has created a hidden gambling operation worth millions of euros, including illegal lotto and sports bets, while the authorities, even the police, do nothing to stop them. The Shift discovered that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) began an investigation in 2020, just after Melvin Theuma, the link in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, was arrested; this investigation sent information to the police last year about people in this illegal scheme.

Reports explained that a group of criminals collected unexplained riches like massive property portfolios worth millions of euros and expensive cars, living in luxury because of their illegal betting business. Even though these reports have been at the Financial Crimes and Investigations Department (FCID) for some time, the police have not arrested or charged anyone.

The FIAU’s reports hold clear evidence of big money laundering operations and have been given to banks in Malta and other countries to look into further and gather more information. Inside the reports, individuals operating this illegal gambling ring are named, causing the state to lose a lot of money and making social problems from uncontrolled betting worse.

The Żejtun Mastermind

Inside its findings, the FIAU uncovered an organised crime group led by a self-employed ‘businessman’ from Żejtun, who bases his activities from a bar just a few steps from the local police station and a grand villa on Żejtun’s edge. The FIAU pointed to Jason John Desira, aged 52, calling himself a ‘digital creator’, as the leader of an illegal lotto operation running all across the country.

He breaks up his time between his ‘office’ over Jack’s Bar and his villa, telling ‘runners’ what to do and keeping in touch using many mobile phones. All this is done while police are nearby, as his ‘office’ is only a short distance from Żejtun’s police station.

The FIAU’s intelligence signals that Desira managed to take over the previously Melvin Theuma-led illegal lotto activities and most of his ‘runners’. Melvin Theuma, in the past tied to the Caruana Galizia case, was known for running an underground lotto business, and during the police raid that caught him, they found about €2 million in cash.

According to FIAU reports, Desira and a small bunch of trusted allies deal with big sums of money every week, with illegal bets reaching tens of thousands of euros, and everyone around bars and clubs in the south of the island knows it, even the police. In these places, bettors are approached frequently, whether in bars, clubs, or even their own houses, and get official slips for their bets, but only cash payments are accepted.

The Network

The FIAU gathered evidence on several other illegal gambling bosses working with or apart from Desira; they run illegal lotteries and unlawful sports bets, focusing on football and horse racing.

According to The Shift, in both 2023 and 2024, the FIAU handed over tips to the police about serious money laundering possibly connected to Engelbart Mamo, a 53-year-old from Rabat, especially involving property deals with Melvin Theuma in a suspected case of laundering money.

Up until now, the police have still not done anything about it.

FIAU’s research also exposed more important people active in underground betting across Malta. Police dossiers were built and passed about Darren James Vella, aged 35 from Birkirkara; Emanuel Baldacchino, 71, and his son Steve Baldacchino, 47, from Qormi; Warren Attard, 47, from Marsa; Fabian Grima, 47, from Qormi; and George Scicluna, 60, also from Qormi.

FIAU summaries describe detailed evidence connecting these men to cleaning illegal earnings through high-value property deals, showing company names and property swaps used for money laundering, and the police have had these files for over a year.

When asked specifically whether they received FIAU’s reports on people running this countrywide illegal gambling network, neither Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa nor FCID chief Assistant Commissioner Fabian Fleri commented, and they also gave no reason for failing to act on the FIAU’s findings. Instead, the police told The Shift that because the information is classified, “The police are not in a position to confirm or deny such information.”