‘Fenech told me he got information on murder from Keith Schembri’, Theuma tells court
Murder middleman Melvin Theuma told the court yesterday that Yorgen Fenech told him he had got the information on the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia from former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.
Theuma testified yesterday as the compilation of evidence against George Degiorgio, his brother Alfred Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat – the men accused of murdering the journalist, continued.
This was Theuma’s first appearance on the witness stand since being cleared by three psychiatrists to continue testifying.
Theuma was first cross-examined by Muscat’s lawyer, Marc Sant, who referred to a number of recordings that were also played in court. He was then questioned by parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi.
In court, Theuma testified how he suspected that Charlene Bianco Farrugia - the personal secretary to former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri - was Yorgen Fenech’s partner and how he had once driven them to the airport together. He said that whenever he needed anything, related to property for instance, he would go to Fenech who would then call Schembri’s secretary - he even went to Castille once to speak to her about a field, he said.
The Malta Independent some months back had revealed that Bianco Farrugia was one of four people on a controversial trip to Las Vegas in 2018. The other three were Yorgen Fenech and then-MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri and FIAU board member Edwina Licari. Cuschieri, who at the time was in the transition period before taking the CEO role at the MFSA having served as the CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority, resigned from the authority over the revelations.
Being cross-examined by the defence, Theuma was asked about his relationship with Edwin Brincat - one of his associates known as il-Ġojja - and was even asked whether it was of a sexual nature, to which he replied with a resounding no. He said that Brincat had asked him for the recordings of his conversations with Yorgen Fenech on behalf of former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.
Answering another question, Theuma reiterated that he firmly believes that Yorgen Fenech is the mastermind behind Caruana Galizia’s murder.
One of Theuma’s recordings was played in court, where Yorgen Fenech is heard saying that police had found a mobile phone in the sea with former Economy
Minister Chris Cardona’s number on it. Fenech is heard saying that Keith Schembri had given him this information and Theuma testified that Fenech had told him that Alfred Degiorgio - one of the three in the courtroom - had used that number to communicate with Cardona.
After a five-minute pause to give Theuma chance to recover – his voice is weak as a result of the self-inflicted injuries sustained last summer – the court continued to hear more recordings.
Lawyer Marc Sant noted that in part of the recording, Theuma is heard telling Yorgen Fenech that the important thing was that they do not end up in trouble.
“Aħna l-aqwa li ma niġux fix-s**t aħna (What’s important is that we don’t end up in s**t),” Theuma is heard telling Fenech in the recording.
The lawyer asked whether at that point, Theuma had any information. The witness said the conversation was about the murder and he was afraid of getting caught. He denied having any information at that stage.
In another part of the recording, Fenech is heard dismissing Theuma’s question as to whether it was possible for a pardon to be given to the three accused.
“As if,” Fenech is heard saying.
The lawyer asked Theuma whether he was aware of the presidential pardon mechanism at the time, to which he replied in the negative.
Theuma said Fenech had told him that Muscat had asked for a pardon and he explained how it worked.
The witness said that Fenech informed him that Muscat’s lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi, had urged him to tell all and get a pardon. “I felt betrayed,” Theuma added.
Another recording was played. Theuma and Fenech are in a moving car and children can be heard in the background.
In this recording, Theuma told Fenech that Kenneth Camilleri had visited him and told him about plans to get the Degiorgio brothers out on bail. The bail never materialised.
Camilleri had formed part of then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s security detail and was a close friend of Keith Schembri.
Theuma told Fenech that he would take the brother of the Degiorgios to “Mellieħa”, which is where Schembri lives. At the time, Theuma used to receive visits from Mario Degiorgio, who used to collect money on behalf of his arrested brothers.
Theuma told the court that in another recording, Fenech admits that it was Keith Schembri who sent Camilleri to Theuma’s house.
In another clip, Theuma’s stepdaughter is heard speaking. Theuma said she had printed out the photo he had taken with Keith Schembri at Castille.
Schembri was mentioned again in relation to bail and the lawyer asked why the former OPM chief of staff was mentioned.
Theuma replied: “I had a great relationship with him… Not a personal one, but he was the one who leaked information to Yorgen Fenech, who promised bail. That’s what Yorgen told me. If he lied, then I’m lying too.”
Theuma testified that Fenech told Schembri he had no other way other than killing Caruana Galizia.
In another recording at Level 21, Fenech’s office at Portomaso, the Tumas Group shareholder is heard reassuring Theuma that deputy police chief Silvio Valletta will not be pulled of the murder case.
Theuma said the recording was done just before Valletta was going to visit “for whisky”.
At the time, the Caruana Galizia family was challenging Valletta’s involvement in the murder case. A court subsequently ruled that Valletta had a conflict of interest and ordered that he stop being involved in the murder investigation.
Theuma also asked about Muscat’s pardon request. In court Theuma testified that Fenech could get information from Keith Schembri and Silvio Valletta.
“That’s where Yorgen Fenech said he got his information,” Theuma said. He added that he believed Keith Schembri was such an important man, who was also Fenech’s friend, that they would never get caught.
Theuma said that when Judge Antonio Mizzi denied bail to the accused, he felt desperate and feared they would want to eliminate him.
Asked by lawyer Marc Sant whether he had ever seen wrongdoing, Theuma replied in the negative. “But that is what I thought,” he said.
Asked about payments made to the Degiorgios, Theuma said he arranged for an initial payment of €30,000 through Mario Degiorgio (a brother to George and Alfred).
Theuma said he spoke to Alfred Degiorgio over the phone a couple of months after the Degiorgios and Muscat were arrested.
He testified that following the first payment, Mario Degiorgio told me that his brothers needed another €30,000 and that George was willing to barter his gold.
Theuma said he did not take the gold and got them another €30,000 just the same.
Lawyer Marc Sant asked Theuma why in the recordings he is referred to as “irraġel tal-bagalja (the suitcase man)”. Theuma said it was because of the money payments he made to the Degiorgios.
Theuma said the last payment he gave Alfred Degiorgio, before the arrests, amounted to €125,000. Theuma said he took Degiorgio to a garage and handed him an envelope with the money, not a suitcase.
Parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi picked up questioning and asked Theuma why Fenech had asked him to use Signal instead of WhatsApp.
Theuma said that it was Fenech who downloaded the app on his mobile phone. According to Fenech, Signal was safer than WhatsApp, Theuma told the court.
This happened after the murder when they were speaking about Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu.
Azzopardi asked about a part in the recordings where Fenech was heard telling him: “Jekk nibqgħu moħħna hemm, ibusulna l...”
“Who was ‘us’?” Azzopardi asked the witness.
“Me and Yorgen,” Theuma replied. The witness said that Fenech was insisting that they should not fight over the murder.
Azzopardi asked Theuma about the 28 phone calls he placed with Yorgen Fenech on 18 November, 2018.
Theuma said there must have been a report in the media about them. Azzopardi referred to a Times of Malta article published that day: ‘Daphne murder mastermind suspects identified – investigators’.
Theuma, whose English is not good, said he had followed the news analysis of that day on TVM.
Azzopardi said that Italian TV channel Rai 3 ran a feature about the murder that day in which a Maltese minister was quoted in the programme saying that investigators were closing in on making more arrests in the Caruana Galizia murder case.
The minister was Michael Farrugia, who was then responsible for home affairs. Farrugia, later clarified that arrests would be made when concrete evidence was in hand.
Fenech and Theuma were only arrested a year later.
On the witness stand, Theuma asked whether it was the tall minister who wears glasses. “At the time, I panicked. I kept calling Yorgen Fenech, but I doubt he answered my calls,” Theuma told the court.
Theuma recounted an anecdote to the court, something he never testified about in previous sittings.
“Once Yorgen Fenech gave me a cut of meat at his farmhouse, to take home and cook. On my way back, I called my partner and told her I would throw it away. ‘He wants to poison us all. I’ll throw it away in the first skip I find’, I told her,” Theuma recounted.
However, he added, a few days later Fenech told him about the meat and how he disposed of it.
“I never told anyone except my partner about this meat… Yorgen told me he knew, two days later. Who told him? Was it my partner? I don’t think so,” Theuma said, implying that Fenech may have had access to the phone conversation.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Jason Azzopardi, Theuma said that his fear was triggered by a comment Fenech once made about the Degiorgios.
The Tumas magnate once allegedly told him to abandon the Degiorgios (‘armihom ’l hemm’).
Theuma said the comment made him think: “That’s how he would treat me too.”
Azzopardi asked about Fenech telling Schembri that he had no other way with reference to earlier testimony Theuma gave.
Theuma replied: “Yorgen told me that Keith went cold. That’s when he told Keith Schembri ‘I had no other way’.”
Theuma said he tried to console Fenech by telling him that when dealing with the hitmen, he [Theuma] had never revealed Fenech’s identity.
The witness said that a couple of weeks after the 2017 general election, Fenech had handed him an envelope with €150,000 in cash – which was the full amount due for the murder.
The cash transaction happened while Theuma was taking Fenech to the airport. Theuma had informed Fenech that a deposit of €30,000 had to be made but Fenech gave him the full amount upfront.
Replying to questions, Theuma said he used to believe that Keith Schembri was also in on the crime but could not confirm that under oath.
Theuma confirmed that discussions between him and Fenech were always about the murder.
The case was adjourned to Friday at 2pm.