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Passport to Vice
Money, Bombs, Murder & The Empire of Vice – The Rise of London’s Maltese Syndicate and ‘Big Frank’ Mifsud
After World War II, a criminal class took control of the bowels of the ‘shocking’ city of London, cornering a square mile of vice for at least two-and-a-half decades.
This ethnic ‘mafia’, whose brawny recruits became exclusively invested in the world of prostitution, porn and gambling, became known as ‘the Maltese Syndicate’. Violent, property-rich, and under tight control of Big Frank Mifsud and Bernie Silver, they co-existed side by side with gangsters like Billy Hill, Jack ‘Spot’ Comer, the Krays, Albert Dimes, and porn baron Jimmy Humphreys, before their demise at the hands of ‘gangbuster’ Bert Wickstead.
Now their history is told in Matthew Vella’s detailed historical research, with newly-released documents from the Maltese and British national archives, the police statements of the Syndicate men, confidential police memos, and the most extensive search of British newspapers from the mid-1930s right up to the 1980s, with accounts from survivors of the era.
After World War II, a criminal class took control of the bowels of the ‘shocking’ city of London, cornering a square mile of vice for at least two-and-a-half decades.
This ethnic ‘mafia’, whose brawny recruits became exclusively invested in the world of prostitution, porn and gambling, became known as ‘the Maltese Syndicate’. Violent, property-rich, and under tight control of Big Frank Mifsud and Bernie Silver, they co-existed side by side with gangsters like Billy Hill, Jack ‘Spot’ Comer, the Krays, Albert Dimes, and porn baron Jimmy Humphreys, before their demise at the hands of ‘gangbuster’ Bert Wickstead.
Now their history is told in Matthew Vella’s detailed historical research, with newly-released documents from the Maltese and British national archives, the police statements of the Syndicate men, confidential police memos, and the most extensive search of British newspapers from the mid-1930s right up to the 1980s, with accounts from survivors of the era.
- GenresCrime
284 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Vella
3 books3 followersMatthew Vella, born in 1980 in Sliema, Malta, is a journalist, editor, and media advisor whose career has been defined by a steadfast commitment to political inquiry, public accountability, and the craft of storytelling. Having first entered the newsroom in 2003, Vella became a defining voice in the Maltese press through his long tenure at MaltaToday, where he served in several editorial capacities across two decades.
Within the publishing house Mediatoday, Vella’s journalistic journey unfolded across multiple mastheads: he edited The Malta Financial and Business Times, MaltaToday Midweek, and eventually took the helm as executive editor of both MaltaToday on Sunday and its digital arm, maltatoday.com.mt. His editorship (2013–2023) coincided with one of Malta’s most volatile political decade, a period of corruption scandals, institutional reform, and deep public reckoning, and Vella’s steady stewardship helped shape a newsroom renowned for its investigative integrity and willingness to confront power.
After twenty years in the print and digital press, Vella now works as a freelance journalist and media consultant, providing advisory, multimedia, and location services for television productions, social media creators, and photographic shoots. His transition from newsroom editor to independent practitioner is a reassertion of craft across the shifting terrain of modern media.
Vella is also the author of Passport To Vice: Money, Bombs, Murder & The Empire of Vice – The Rise of London’s Maltese Syndicate and “Big Frank” Mifsud from the East End to Soho (Horizons, 2022), a work of narrative nonfiction that traces the Maltese criminal underworld’s uneasy migration into London’s wartime and postwar demimonde. Merging archival research with investigative storytelling, the book extends Vella’s long-standing fascination with the intersections of crime, politics, and diaspora.
Across his career, Vella’s journalism has broken major stories on politics, crime, and public administration, often catalysing investigations and government inquiries. Some of his exposés have precipitated resignations and legislative scrutiny, confirming his status among Malta’s roll-call of rigorous and consequential reporters. His work has been twice recognised by the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM): in 2023, he received the Best Print Journalism Story award for “Malta could foot €100 million bill if Steward contract rescinded by court”, and shared the Best Investigative Story Award for “Malta’s mystery: gangland wars and no justice.”
Vella writes in both English and Maltese, and is known not only for his investigative output but also for his sharp-edged political sketches, interviews, and editorial analyses — pieces that also combine humour, precision, and moral clarity in equal measure.
He lives in Naxxar with his wife, Charlotte Vassallo, and their two daughters, Zoe and Nicky.
Within the publishing house Mediatoday, Vella’s journalistic journey unfolded across multiple mastheads: he edited The Malta Financial and Business Times, MaltaToday Midweek, and eventually took the helm as executive editor of both MaltaToday on Sunday and its digital arm, maltatoday.com.mt. His editorship (2013–2023) coincided with one of Malta’s most volatile political decade, a period of corruption scandals, institutional reform, and deep public reckoning, and Vella’s steady stewardship helped shape a newsroom renowned for its investigative integrity and willingness to confront power.
After twenty years in the print and digital press, Vella now works as a freelance journalist and media consultant, providing advisory, multimedia, and location services for television productions, social media creators, and photographic shoots. His transition from newsroom editor to independent practitioner is a reassertion of craft across the shifting terrain of modern media.
Vella is also the author of Passport To Vice: Money, Bombs, Murder & The Empire of Vice – The Rise of London’s Maltese Syndicate and “Big Frank” Mifsud from the East End to Soho (Horizons, 2022), a work of narrative nonfiction that traces the Maltese criminal underworld’s uneasy migration into London’s wartime and postwar demimonde. Merging archival research with investigative storytelling, the book extends Vella’s long-standing fascination with the intersections of crime, politics, and diaspora.
Across his career, Vella’s journalism has broken major stories on politics, crime, and public administration, often catalysing investigations and government inquiries. Some of his exposés have precipitated resignations and legislative scrutiny, confirming his status among Malta’s roll-call of rigorous and consequential reporters. His work has been twice recognised by the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM): in 2023, he received the Best Print Journalism Story award for “Malta could foot €100 million bill if Steward contract rescinded by court”, and shared the Best Investigative Story Award for “Malta’s mystery: gangland wars and no justice.”
Vella writes in both English and Maltese, and is known not only for his investigative output but also for his sharp-edged political sketches, interviews, and editorial analyses — pieces that also combine humour, precision, and moral clarity in equal measure.
He lives in Naxxar with his wife, Charlotte Vassallo, and their two daughters, Zoe and Nicky.
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