Thread by @OCCRP

NEW: OCCRP, @Reuters, @TheTimesofMalta, & @SZ reveal new details on the secret offshore companies and Chinese businessmen that journalist #DaphneCaruanaGalizia was investigating before her assassination — including the mysterious company "Macbridge." 1/
occrp.org/en/thedaphnepr…

What is Macbridge? Activists in Malta have pushed the gov’t to find out who’s behind the obscure company, which was mentioned by disgraced accounting firm Nexia BT in a leaked email that discussed channeling money to public officials. 2/

Today, we reveal that Macbridge is a Hong Kong-based firm tied to a prominent Chinese businessman who was also being relentlessly investigated by Caruana Galizia before her murder.

➡️ Chen Cheng, a senior exec at the Chinese branch of multinational consulting firm Accenture. 3/

Caruana Galizia was investigating Chen Cheng, and his role in helping a Chinese state-owned firm negotiate a deal to buy a third of Malta’s government-backed energy utility, Enemalta. 4/

When Nexia BT helped Maltese public officials Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi — both of whom Caruana Galizia was also looking into — to register secret companies in Panama, it also created a company for Chen in the British Virgin Islands. 5/

Evidence exposed in today’s investigation suggests that Chen too played a role in channeling money to the Panama companies of Schembri and Mizzi. 6/

What’s more, another company linked to Chen received money from 17 Black, an infamous firm owned by Yorgen Fenech, the accused mastermind of Caruana Galizia’s murder.

We reveal that this Chen-linked company, Dow’s Media Ltd., received €1m from 17 Black in 2016. 7/

Chen’s ties to Macbridge and Dow’s Media flow through his mother-in-law, a KFC restaurant operator named Tang Zhaomin, and Wang Rui, Tang’s cousin.

Here’s a look at how these companies were set up. 8/

Chen and Tang, his mother-in-law, also have ties to one of Malta’s biggest industries: selling visas to wealthy foreigners seeking a backdoor into the EU — a topic Caruana Galizia reported on before her death. 9/

Both Chen and Tang share business interests with Mao Haibin, aka Kevin Mao, who runs the company that holds the official concession to sell Maltese residency visas in China.

Here’s a look at how Chen, Tang, and Mao are connected to each other — and key players in Malta. 10/

Chen has so far avoided a great deal of scrutiny, and it is unclear if Maltese authorities are aware of his apparent connections to Macbridge, whose ownership has never before been publicly revealed. 11/

Follow "The Daphne Project" for more of our reporting on the killing of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia and her unfinished work. 12/
occrp.org/en/thedaphnepr…