78 people employed with companies that former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri has a business interest in have filed an urgent court application, asking for their wages to be exempt from the freezing order that was issued, the Times of Malta reports.
This came a day after Six companies owned by Keith Schembri had also filed an urgent court application. The companies asked the court to temporarily unfreeze assets for them to pay the salaries of 100 employees.
Companies belonging to Schembri had their assets frozen after a court issued an attachment order on a number people and companies, including Schembri and his business partners, his accountants at Nexia BT, Brian Tonna and Karl Cini, on suspicion of money-laundering offences.
In their application on Sunday, the employees asked that the application be treated as urgent, arguing that their wages are due on Wednesday. They also said that their salary is needed in order to feed their families, the Times of Malta reports.