Kevin Buttigieg, the former CEO of real estate giant Remax, has been found guilty of assaulting a man during a "packed" night at the Tiffany Lounge in Portomaso Marina. 

On Tuesday, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech sentenced Buttigieg to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, following a series of events the court described as a failure of the businessman to "restrain his tongue and himself."

The court heard that the animosity between Buttigieg and the victim, contractor Christopher Grech, began roughly a month before the October 2020 incident.

The first encounter

Buttigieg described their first encounter at the same Portomaso establishment as "somewhat strange, if not surreal."

According to Buttigieg’s testimony, Grech approached him out of the blue.

"I have €20 million in cash and I know that you are an expert in laundering money through property," Grech allegedly told him. 

Buttigieg told the court his initial reaction was disbelief: "Is this a joke, someone set me up?"

Buttigieg claimed he tried to brush Grech off politely, telling him, "Listen, look up my number on the website... and give me a call next week." 

This, the court noted, proved to be a mistake, as it led to weeks of what Buttigieg described as "persistent" harassment.

The court also noted that it was “perplexed” that despite admitting that he did not feel comfortable “at all” with Grech, Buttigieg had never reported him to the police.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech said that what Grech was asking of him – finding him a property to invest millions in cash – could have landed him in legal trouble. She said that a mature businessman with years of experience in real estate should have not only distanced himself from Grech, but also reported him to the authorities to safeguard himself and his reputation.  

In the weeks leading up to the assault, Buttigieg alleged that Grech began "following him" and "staring at him" in various public bars and restaurants. The tension escalated when Grech reportedly called Buttigieg’s mobile at 1:30 AM.

"I answered the phone and he told me: ‘Hawn sieħbi’ [Hey friend]," Buttigieg testified. He responded by asking, "Do you know what time it is?" before hanging up. 

On the evening of October 28, 2020, the two men crossed paths again at Portomaso. 

After a brief verbal spat near a roundabout, Grech went to dine at Tiffany Lounge with his accountant.

Buttigieg, who was drinking nearby with his colleague, spotted Grech through the terrace glass.

Despite having told Grech minutes earlier that they should "leave it at that," Buttigieg decided to enter the restaurant and approach Grech’s table. He told the court he wanted to "fix this once and for all" because Grech "gets around like a fly”.

Buttigieg alleged that Grech was bad-mouthing him with other agents.

The scene that followed was described by eyewitnesses as a sudden explosion of violence. David Zammit testified that Buttigieg approached the table, tapped him on the back, and said: "You are my friend... but Chris is a bullshitter and a piece of shit. I got a lot of money."

Buttigieg then allegedly demanded that Grech "look into my [his] eyes." When Grech asked why he should do so, Buttigieg became enraged.

"I hit him before he hit me"

The confrontation turned physical when Buttigieg knocked a cup of coffee (or tea) over Grech. Grech testified that Buttigieg "swiped the coffee cup with his left hand and started raining punches with his right."

A witness described the businessman’s aggression as overwhelming, noting Buttigieg was "strong" and landed "four good punches" before anyone could intervene. Even after Buttigieg’s colleague stepped in to separate them, Buttigieg allegedly reached around him to land another blow to Grech’s face.

Buttigieg said that he was protecting himself, fearing Grech was about to throw hot tea in his face. 

"The minute I thought so... I lifted my hands... and then I stood up, and he stood up and obviously before he hit me I hit him. It is as simple as that," Buttigieg told the court.

Buttigieg said that Grech started to threaten him. Grech allegedly told him that he would get a revolver from his car and “kill him”.

However, David Zammit insisted that Grech "at no moment raised his hands."

The Missing CCTV Footage

Police noted the lack of security footage from the "jam-packed" restaurant. 

Inspector Matthew Grech testified that when he arrived the following morning to collect the recordings, he found a technician already on-site resetting the system.

The Inspector voiced his suspicions to the magistrate: "As an investigator, it aroused suspicion in me... that there could have been some tampering with this camera, but the investigation led us nowhere."

The restaurant’s owner, Manfred Unger, maintained the system was simply not recording due to technical faults.

Doctors testified that Grech suffered a split lip requiring "butterfly stitches," a black eye, and facial swelling. While Grech also claimed a tooth was fractured during the assault, forensic expert Dr. Mario Scerri noted it was "difficult to establish with certainty" if the break was a direct result of the punches.

Because the injuries did not meet the strict legal definition of "grievous" (permanent or life-threatening), the court reclassified the charge to "slight" bodily harm.

Magistrate Frendo Dimech rejected the plea of provocation, noting that Buttigieg had "sought out" the confrontation. 

"The accused erred badly when he acted like an 'arrogant' man where he did not know how to restrain his tongue and himself," the court ruled.

In addition to the one-year suspended sentence, Buttigieg was ordered to attend an anger management course and abide by a two-year Protection Order in favor of Christopher Grech.

He was also ordered to pay €282 in court expert fees.

The court opted for a suspended sentence rather than effective jail time because of Buttigieg’s clean criminal record and the fact that Grech himself, at the end of the proceedings, stated: "I wish to apologize for the things that happened."

The Magistrate warned, however, that while Grech’s behavior may have been "tiresome," it did not justify the assault that nearly resulted in Buttigieg's incarceration. 

Since the incident, Buttigieg said he avoids Grech "like the plague."