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Key findings:

  • Public documents show that Security First Services Ltd made at least €3.9 million in direct orders and tenders since 2015. In 2023, Security First made four times as much as it did in the previous eight years, mainly thanks to a massive €10 million tender split equally between five competing firms.

  • The company is partly owned by Marvin Buttigieg, who represents the firm as one of its two directors. Buttigieg was found guilty of knowingly sexting a minor and was conditionally discharged for three years.

  • Sources and publicly available data on social media both point towards Buttigieg’s ties with the Gozo Ministry and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri. Buttigieg’s connection was established as early as 2015 when Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo was in charge.

This investigation was supported by The Daphne Foundation. Daiva Repečkaitė and Julian Bonnici contributed research and reporting.


 

Circled in blue, from left to right: Gozo minister Clint Camilleri, former Labour MEP candidate Marija Vella Sara Gafa’, and Marvin Buttigieg.

 

Photos showing multiple occasions in which the Gozo minister attended celebrations in the company of Marvin Buttigieg.

 

Click here for an enlarged version of this data chart

 

Click here for an enlarged version of this data chart


The public contracts bonanza

An investigation jointly carried out by The Daphne Foundation and The Critical Angle Project reveals how Security First Services Ltd, a firm owned by individuals close to the Gozo Ministry and its minister, Clint Camilleri, received millions of euros in public procurement contracts.

Security First was awarded at least 96 direct orders between 2015 – 2024, most of which were for recurring services covering the same locations. These direct orders were all issued by the Gozo ministry.

The company’s presence in the operations of the Gozo ministry and state-backed ventures like Gozo Channel is significant (see data chart above for a full list of the company’s known public contracts).

Its employees were responsible for securing Gozo’s courts and various cultural sites at Ċittadella, supporting operations at both Gozo ferries, and providing additional security at particularly sensitive locations like the Gozo ministry and secondary schools.

The total value of those direct orders amounts to just above €1.5 million.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has previously highlighted how the Gozo ministry uses direct orders to circumvent public procurement regulations. The ministry nonetheless claims to maintain “strict adherence” to those same regulations.

Out of the 96 direct orders awarded to Security First over the years, 24 of them exceeded the legal threshold of €10,000. Though public procurement rules prohibit direct orders in excess of €10,000, the practice has become normalised since Labour’s power grab in 2013. In fact, some of Security First’s direct orders were extended in this manner for periods of up to a year.

Security First netted €2.4 million from three tenders, the biggest of which was issued directly by the Department of Contracts on behalf of the Gozo ministry last year.

Though the original tender was reportedly valued at €4.5 million, the final amount ballooned to almost €10 million. The €10 million tender was split across five competing security firms, including Security First. The other four firms are Executive Security, Gold Guard Security, Signal 8, and Grange Security.

The €10 million contract was for the provision of security services at the ministry and other sites across Gozo for two years.

In response to our questions about why so many direct orders were issued and why the final value of that tender more than doubled, a spokesperson for the Gozo minister’s office stated the following:

“The direct orders to various economic operators were temporary measures to ensure essential security services while awaiting the results of a comprehensive security assessment,” the statement reads.

“This exercise, conducted by a specialised consultancy firm, identified vulnerabilities and recommended improvements. The tender reflects these expert recommendations, including enhanced security measures and new requirements for better service delivery and accountability,” the spokesperson added.

Despite multiple requests, the ministry did not share a copy of this ‘comprehensive’ security assessment, nor did it explain how the final value of the tender doubled.

Following the ministry’s refusal to provide this information, we filed a Freedom of Information request to obtain a copy of this assessment. The request was still pending by publication time.

Criminal records

Court records show that, prior to the company’s registration, Marvin Buttigieg, one of three shareholders behind Security First, was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, defiling her, holding her against her will, and sexting her for over a year before the alleged rape took place.

In his judgement, Magistrate Joe Mifsud questioned whether the contact between Buttigieg and the alleged victim could be considered non-consensual in light of the explicitly sexual messages exchanged between the two. Buttigieg’s statement to the police could not be used as evidence as he was not assisted by a lawyer during questioning.

The magistrate ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the rape occurred.

Buttigieg was found guilty of sexting a minor and was conditionally discharged for a period of three years.

The direct orders continued uninterrupted during and after the criminal proceedings.

When pressed for answers about the minister’s association with Buttigieg, Camilleri’s spokesperson stated that the minister “has no association with the person in question” and that “the minister meets hundreds of people at public events and spaces every day”.

Buttigieg served as Security First’s co-shareholder and director since the company was first set up in 2013. Company records on the Malta Business Registry show that he resigned his directorship twice, returning to the position each time.

Buttigieg first resigned in 2013. The prosecution filed charges against Buttigieg in 2014, with the case eventually making its way towards the magistrate’s desk a year later.

By 2015, the first of dozens of direct orders had already started to trickle in.

Buttigieg was reappointed as director on 26 March 2018, two months after the firm received its first tender from the Environment and Resources Authority.

Buttigieg resigned again in 2019 before being reappointed shortly after in 2020. Further questions were sent to Security First to give the company an opportunity to explain this erratic pattern. The company did not answer these questions.

The two other shareholders behind Security First are George Said Jnr. and Joseph Mercieca.

Said Jr. is the son of Joseph Said. Joseph Said is one of two shareholders involved in La Grotta, a club in Gozo known for its long history of planning violations and noise pollution.

The club’s illegalities, which stretch back at least four decades, have now been sanctioned thanks to a planning application filed on behalf of the club’s owners. The architect who filed the application on the family’s behalf is the Labour Party’s secretary, architect William Lewis.

Though Said Jnr. is not listed as a shareholder in the club business, multiple court records show that he served as the company’s judicial representative in the past.

Joseph Said also serves as a director on the Gozo Channel’s board. His brother, George Said Snr, is the other shareholder behind the club.

Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo had previously served as the family’s lawyer in court cases related to illegal noise levels in the club.

All three members of the Said family mentioned in this article were also involved in Tal-Mannar Co. Ltd., a now-struck-off company previously active in the textile industry.

According to public procurement regulations, major crimes like participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing exclude individuals from being awarded public contracts.

Sex offences that the law deems minor do not preclude someone from being eligible for public contracts. In fact, a copy of Buttigieg’s police conduct—supplied by the company itself when answering our questions—does not list the offence in question.

A source familiar with the company’s operations stated that Buttigieg is responsible for selecting which personnel are dispatched to which site.

Internal documentation shared with this website suggests that the personnel are, at least on paper, subject to stringent conditions about their conduct on the job.

A security officer can be dismissed for failing to follow instructions, for being negligent, for misconduct, or even for leaking any information they may have gleaned from their government-related work.

Though such contractual terms bind operators on the ground, the initial responsibility for hiring and recruiting such personnel is ultimately in the hands of an individual who was found to be on the wrong side of the law in a case involving a minor.

The direct link to the Gozo ministry

As shown in the photos published in this article, Camilleri was pictured celebrating various occasions in Buttigieg’s company.

Buttigieg is Victoria Hotspurs FC’s vice president and team manager, a significant position of influence within Camilleri’s constituency. George Said Snr. is a member of the club’s disciplinary board.

Buttigieg also co-owns the club’s snack bar with his brother – both known by their family name of ‘Ta Żegu’.

Buttigieg’s fortunes expanded significantly under Camilleri’s tenure as minister.

The current Gozo minister shelled out four times as much taxpayer money to Security First than his last two predecessors combined – agriculture minister Anton Refalo and disgraced former education minister Justyne Caruana.

Refalo, who was minister for Gozo between 2013 – 2017, awarded a total of €134,139 in direct orders to Security First.

Refalo’s disgraced successor Justyne Caruana, who headed the ministry between 2018 – 2020, awarded a total of €569,338 in direct orders to the firm.

Camilleri, who’s been in charge of the Gozo ministry since Caruana resigned, awarded Security First more than €3 million in direct orders and tenders in four years.

Towards the end of last year, Camilleri was under huge pressure to resign following the Clayton Bartolo – Amanda Muscat saga.

An investigation by the Standards Commissioner’s office found that the Gozo minister had accommodated disgraced tourism minister Clayton Bartolo’s now-wife, Amanda Muscat, by awarding her with a lucrative contract she was not qualified to receive.

Prime Minister Robert Abela backed both Bartolo and Camilleri in the case. However, Bartolo resigned amid widespread public pressure and a second scandal involving suspected kickbacks revealed by the Times of Malta. Camilleri was entirely dismissive of calls for his resignation.

In December, Camilleri was also the subject of three separate requests for a magisterial inquiry filed by criminal lawyer and anti-corruption activist Jason Azzopardi.

One request revolves around a dubious road project in Nadur that cost taxpayers €17 million – €10.5 million over its initial budget.

The previous request was about an alleged criminal racket involving mooring spots at Gozo’s Mġarr harbour. Another request was filed in relation to the swimming pool complex in Gozo, which cost taxpayers an additional €17 million.

Given that these requests involve alleged abuses which occurred in Gozo, the court ordered Azzopardi to redirect those requests to Gozo’s law courts.

The minister has lashed out against Azzopardi’s requests, describing them as ‘political persecution’, categorically denying all accusations directed his way.

Prime Minister Robert Abela is now pushing to amend legislation to restrict a private citizen’s right to request a magisterial inquiry and to protect public officials from facing legal consequences in their personal capacity.

Abela openly expressed his support for Camilleri when announcing the legislation in a Labour Party rally.


If you have been a victim of sexual abuse and require support, you can reach out to Victim Support Malta and/or the Women’s Rights Foundation for assistance.

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