NGO Repubblika Hides Hypocritical Connections With Money Laundering Cases And NGOs, A Blow To Public Trust

Repubblika is one of Malta's most influential non-governmental organizations (NGOs). With the help of many citizens who trust the organization, its operations are immediate and impactful to the public. Dodgy connections between Repubblika's management, money laundering cases, and hidden ties with NGOs signify Repubblika's lack of transparency.

Manuel Delia's connections to Satabank

Repubblika's former president Manuel Delia is arguably the organization's most influential and dominant figure. In the many outlets he writes for, Delia focuses on addressing matters with supposed relevancy to Repubblika's alleged activity against corruption.

Delia has been highly active in his critiques against the now infamous Satabank, which had its license revoked upon the suspicion of millions of criminal activities hosted by the St Julian's bank. Delia ensured to pass his judgment through his Facebook page and blog. He was even sued by the bank's owner due to a post stating the owner was facing investigations "by various police forces around the world while being sheltered here in Malta by Joseph Muscat's government."

Delia failed to mention that his wife, Clemence Dujardin, is one of the bank's creditors.

The lack of mention signifies Clemence was highly affected by the bank's asset freeze, which may explain why the authorities involved mishandled the case and her husband Delia so prominently attacked the bank. When the wife of a known "justice fighter" is involved in money laundering scandals, it seems implausible that Delia concealed these facts from his followers, given his positively forged attitude to justice.

Biased writing is not new for politicians. For people like Delia, who claim to have journalistic integrity and act upon NGOs' nonpartisan commitments, dishonest writing serves as a blow to the public's trust In the people who claim to be the face of Repubblika's essence as an NGO.

People that support Repubblika's cause are entitled to receive full transparency from its leaders and have been systematically left in the dark during Repubblika's years of activity since its foundation in 2019.

The triangle of NGOs

Another major part of Repubblika's activities hidden from the public is Repubblika's inseparable connections with other organizations that control the public discourse.

Repubblika has strong ties to organizations in and outside Malta. This is especially true regarding the "Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation," the law firm "BCGL," and the pressure group "Occupy Justice."

In some cases, these organizations work as one, sharing events, lawsuits, and activists while receiving support from some of the organization's special funds and programs. In fact, "Occupy Justice," one of the most powerful pressure groups in Malta, was once managed by Manuel Delia's wife. The pressure group also happens to utilize its close ties with Repubblika. This raises a serious question regarding Repubblika secretly receiving money from other NGOs without disclosing it to the public they serve.

Are they three separate organizations? Or one?

The contact details of the organizations can be found across all the other organizations' publications. The close physical distance between the offices of Repubblika and the Daphne Caruana Foundation clearly indicates their cooperation. The question that arises from this alliance is simple: Why does Repubblika hide it??

Citizens who support Repubblika's cause do not necessarily endorse the other organizations' activities and statements. Given Repubblika recently launched and achieved great success in a crowdfunding campaign, providing transparency to the public should be elementary.

Conclusion

Repubblika's primary focus is branding itself as the best adversary to Pilatus Bank and the Maltese government's corruption. The basis of their argument is displaying Pilatus Bank as the epitome of evil. Simultaneously, they portray themselves as the ultimate, ideal citizen activists acting out of pure justice ideology.

The reality is that the close circle of high-ranking members of Repubblika's board of directors has its fair share of connections to shady money laundering cases in Malta, and the board itself has inseparable ties to organizations that create a clear image of nepotism, lack of transparency, and deception to the public.