Malta’s business community was shaken with news of a murder on Sunday (yesterday), when a small collision between a motorcycle and a car escalated and led to the shooting of the investor and entrepreneur Jean Paul Busuttil, known as Ta’ Bandallu.

After being shot on a narrow road in the outskirts of the sleepy village of Bidnija, Mr Busuttil attempted to drive himself to the hospital, but was forced to stop only a short distance away, in Burmarrad, where he called an ambulance for help.

However, he was certified dead on arrival to hospital.

Mr Busuttil hails from the Busuttil family best known for its Francis Busuttil & Sons import and distribution business. It acts as the local representative for well-known brands like Barilla, Mars and Kellogg’s. The family was also instrumental in the establishment of the Foster Clarks factory in Malta back in 1967, before eventually acquiring the firm in its entirety in 2000.

It was in the Francis Busuttil Group of Companies that Mr Busuttil launched his career, before eventually expanding into real estate and other ventures.

In 2016, he founded Luxury Living Technologies, and raised €8 million in financing on the Maltese bond market.

Luxury Living Technologies (LLT) was initially meant to operate in the solar energy sector, although it ran into difficulties in recent years, with Mr Busuttil leading a diversification strategy that saw the firm enter the real estate and beverage sectors.

Today, LLT owns the popular Smoochie brand of fresh fruit smoothies, and operates a guesthouse in St Julian’s.

MaltaCEOs.mt extends its condolences to the Busuttil family.

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