Self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma takes the witness stand in Yorgen Fenech trial
The trial by jury of businessman Yorgen Fenech has entered its 33rd day, with self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma taking the stand.
Thursday’s sitting heard Dr Adrian Vella recount Yorgen Fenech’s deteriorating mental state and cocaine addiction in the days leading up to his arrest in November 2019.
He also told jurors he heard Fenech say, “If I go down, they’ll all go down with me,” after delivering documents he had collected from the home of former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri to Fenech at Portomaso.
The court also heard Vella describe the chaotic events surrounding a trip to Gozo following the arrest of self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma, while prosecutors played jurors a recording of the doctor’s 2019 police interrogation.
Vella has remained under court supervision overnight ahead of the resumption of his testimony on Friday.
Yorgen Fenech, a businessman, has pleaded not guilty to two principal charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit the murder.
Caruana Galizia, a columnist with The Malta Independent, was killed in a car bomb on 16 October 2017.
Five men have already been convicted in connection with Caruana Galizia’s assassination. Vince Muscat admitted his role in the murder in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. Alfred and George Degiorgio each received 40-year prison sentences after pleading guilty in 2022, while Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2025 for supplying the bomb used in the attack.
The prosecution is being led by Attorney General lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella, assisted by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Giannella de Marco and Gianluca Caruana Curran, while lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family.
Judge Edwina Grima is presiding.
Please refresh the page for updates
18:03 Melvin Theuma’s testimony concludes for the day.
The judge adjourns the case, with the trial of Yorgen Fenech set to resume tomorrow at 9am. Thank you for following, we will have a roundup of today’s key points on our website shortly.
18:02 Theuma says he met Daphne Caruana Galizia only once, by chance.
“I gave her a ride after her tyres were slashed at Portomaso. I didn’t ask her for any money, I felt sorry for her. I didn’t even know who she was at the time.”
18:01 Theuma says Fenech regularly tried to reassure him in the months after the murder.
“He would tell me, ‘If we stick together, they can kiss our balls’. He once sent me a survey showing Labour’s lead in the polls. It made me feel as powerful as he was.”
Theuma says the first anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was particularly difficult for him.
“I texted him on October 16 (2018),” he says, referring to Fenech. “He didn’t answer.”
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini why Fenech did not reply, Theuma answers: “He felt as bad as I did.”
17:46 Theuma is shown a copy of the letter and confirms it is in his handwriting.
“I included Keith Schembri in the letter because of the madness I was going through (minħabba l-ġenn ta’ moħħi). I have nothing on Keith Schembri. If he was involved behind the scenes, I know nothing about that.”
Theuma reiterates his position.
“I repeat. Keith Schembri never gave me a penny and never mentioned Daphne Caruana Galizia to me. For sure. I only spoke to Keith Schembri twice. Once at Yorgen Fenech’s ranch, and another time at Castille (when he was given the job).”
17:43 Theuma says he arranged for a copy of the recordings to be sent to the Nationalist Party (“l-Istamperija,” he says) if he were to be killed.
He says he also sent Fenech three “random” recordings, together with his handwritten letter stating that he had acted as the middleman in the murder and that Fenech and Schembri were the masterminds.
A copy of that letter was found by police in a cabinet inside Fenech’s company boardroom during searches, the court has previously heard.
17:40 Theuma says il-Gojja advised him to play some of the recordings to Yorgen Fenech to prove that he really had them.
He says il-Gojja also advised him to install a car alarm in case someone tried to plant a bomb in his car.
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini who he believed would place a bomb, Theuma replies: “Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri, because he was helping him.”
17:37 Theuma recalls Fenech trying to reassure him.
“Yorgen would tell me: ‘Our money is power. We give them (the Degiorgios) money to keep them quiet.'”
Theuma says he kept the recordings on a USB pen drive inside his car.
17:33 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks why Theuma told Johann Cremona he had been recording Yorgen Fenech instead of speaking to Fenech directly.
“I knew that if I told Johann, he would tell Yorgen. I found it easier to express myself with Johann and tell him what I was going through,” Theuma replies.
Theuma says Fenech later sent for him after learning he had been recording him.
“Yorgen told me he was disappointed, but it was OK (imma ma ġara xejn). I told him, ‘If you want, I can get you the recordings’. I recorded that conversation too.”
17:29 Theuma says he recorded Yorgen Fenech, Johann Cremona and, on one occasion, Mario Degiorgio.
He says he was drinking heavily at the time and mixing alcohol with Ativan.
Theuma says he drove to police headquarters on three separate occasions intending to confess to the murder, but turned back each time.
“I would talk about the murder to Edgar (Brincat, il-Ġojja). He would cut me short and tell me that exposing Yorgen Fenech was crazy. That Yorgen was very powerful and close to people like Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri.”
17:24 Theuma says he sent word to Fenech through Johann Cremona that he had been recording him.
He says that around that time, he began visiting Cremona every weekday, from Monday to Friday.
“We would discuss the murder. We would say that Fenech had no reason to get himself into this. I would cry and open my heart.”
Theuma says Cremona would sometimes mention Chris Cardona as having a role in the murder.
“He told me that if I was ever asked, I should say Chris Cardona was the murder mastermind.”
“He would also mention that guy involved in oil or diesel, too,” Theuma says.
17:20 Theuma reiterates that he began recording Fenech because he needed evidence against him.
“I needed them for evidence. Yorgen was a very powerful person. I was scared police would delete them if they got the order from someone like Keith Schembri.”
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini why he believed Schembri or Fenech could dictate investigators’ actions, Theuma replies: “Yorgen Fenech is a lion. I’m a mosquito by comparison. Who would believe me without the recordings? They would have gotten rid of me or put me in prison a long time ago.”
17:16 Theuma’s testimony becomes less coherent as he refers to Times of Malta “publishing something about a businessman being involved, and someone in gaming”, adding: “I was better off dead than alive.”
The prosecution then steers him back to the point.
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini why he started recording Yorgen Fenech, Theuma replies: “So I would have proof against him. I felt I was going to be betrayed. Yorgen would constantly tell me that Keith Schembri would walk through fire for him. I was convinced I’d be killed or put in prison.”
17:14 Theuma then turns to his relationship with Edgar Brincat, known as il-Gojja.
He says he confessed to Brincat that he had acted as the middleman in the murder plot.
Theuma says Brincat reacted angrily, telling him: “You’ve ruined your life!”
“I told him I have tapes of Yorgen, who hired me. I’ll try for a pardon. He told me: ‘As if they’ll give you a pardon. Yorgen is favoured by the government.'”
Theuma says he then played some of the recordings to Brincat.
17:05 Theuma says that same evening he was having dinner with his family at a restaurant in Pietà.
“Johann Cremona called me and then came to the restaurant. He told me Kenneth wanted to speak to me,” he recalls.
Theuma says Camilleri wanted to meet him at ir-Ramla taż-Żejtun, but he refused because he was afraid. He says the location was too isolated and he feared they intended to kill him.
Theuma repeats that, had he been eliminated after the murder, Yorgen Fenech and those who helped him, specifically mentioning Keith Schembri, would have had nothing to worry about.
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini whether he was referring to the period after the murder, Theuma replies: “Yes, after the murder.”
17:00 Theuma continues testifying about the day he met Johann Cremona and Kenneth Camilleri at Cremona’s garage, after Camilleri had shown him a piece of paper with phone numbers on it and suggested it meant Theuma was behind the murder.
“I told him Yorgen Fenech ta’ Tumas is the mastermind. He gave me the €150,000,” Theuma says.
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini how the two men reacted, Theuma replies: “They were stunned. They didn’t say anything. I got up and left.”
Theuma says he left the meeting worried because Fenech had told him that Koħħu was implicating him, while Camilleri was now calling him the mastermind.
16:58 Theuma is asked whether anyone passed remarks to him as he was being escorted out of the courtroom.
“No, nobody did,” he replies.
With that issue resolved, jurors are brought back into the courtroom and the hearing resumes.
16:53 Before Theuma’s testimony resumes, the prosecution tells the court that a member of Yorgen Fenech’s family made a remark to the witness as he was being escorted out of the courtroom.
The bailiff says he did not hear anything.
The judge orders that Theuma be escorted out through a different door for the remainder of the trial, so he does not have to walk past the defendant’s family.
16:25 Judge Grima ordered a 20 minute break. Proceedings will resume at 16:45.
16:24 Theuma says that same night, in April 2018, he went to speak to Mario Degiorgio to tell him about the proposed bail and the promised €1 million payment.
“He was very happy about this,” Theuma says.
He says that the following day, he went to Johann Cremona’s home for a coffee.
Theuma says Kenneth Camilleri turned up, took a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to him.
“The paper had three phone numbers on it. One of them was my old phone number. He asked me if I recognised any of them. I told him one was mine.
“He told me: ‘Then you have a problem, because you are the mastermind behind Daphne’s murder.'”
Theuma says he immediately objected and blurted out that Yorgen Fenech was the mastermind.
16:17 Theuma says Camilleri returned after the phone call.
“He told me they would be getting bail on the 22nd and they would each receive a bag with €1 million in it. He told me to tell the Degiorgios about this.”
Theuma says he later confronted Yorgen Fenech about the meeting.
“I wanted to know who had sent Kenneth Camilleri. He said it was Keith.”
16:15 Theuma recalls Kenneth Camilleri asking him: “What’s happened? What happened with Yorgen?”
“I told him that all I wanted was for those three [the hitmen] to get bail. He crossed the road and made a call.”
Defence lawyers ask Theuma to slow down, saying the pace of his testimony is making it difficult to follow.
Theuma says he did not hear what Camilleri said during the call, but that he assumed he was speaking to Keith Schembri.
The judge asks why he made that assumption.
“Because Yorgen was constantly mentioning him,” Theuma replies.
16:11 Theuma says he found the Signal message on his phone the day after his drinking binge, which had ended with a drunken call to Jason Azzopardi.
He says that evening Johann Cremona, whom he refers to as “is-Cigar”, called him.
Theuma says that was unusual and made him suspect something was wrong. He says Cremona told him he was coming over.
“When he told me he arrived, I went down and saw Johann and Kenneth Camilleri, a traffic policeman who was also Joseph Muscat’s driver. Johann hadn’t told me someone else would be coming.”
Camilleri was one of Muscat’s bodyguards. He has testified that he went to Theuma’s house at Keith Schembri’s request, which Schembri denies.
16:03 Jurors are shown a Signal chat between Theuma and Fenech, whose contact was saved as “Yurgin”.
In the messages, Fenech tells Theuma to keep calm and warn the Maksar brothers that police knew the bomb had been assembled at their Żebbuġ garage.
“I didn’t know anything about Ta’ Maksar at this stage,” Theuma says.
15:56 Theuma says that after the meeting, he went out drinking.
He says that the following morning, while still awake and drunk, he called Jason Azzopardi.
“I told him, ‘I want to speak to you about the big case’,” he says.
Theuma says Azzopardi was not receptive and told him he was abroad, advising him to call Karol Aquilina instead.
“My phone battery was drained and I fell asleep. I never called Karol Aquilina,” he says.
15:54 Theuma says he recorded Fenech using his mobile phone, which he had hidden inside his sock.
“During that meeting, Yorgen asked for my phone so he could show me how to use Signal.
“I froze, because my mobile was in my sock, recording him. I told him I would go fetch my mobile phone from the car. I stopped the recording, and gave Yorgen the phone so he could show me how to use Signal and set disappearing messages.”
15:51 Theuma says Fenech later called him and asked to meet.
He says that was the first time he thought about recording Fenech.
“I asked my daughter for help (on how to set that up),” he says.
Theuma says he met Fenech at the Żebbuġ ranch.
“He told me that Koħħu was ratting me and the Degiorgio brothers out. I didn’t believe him at first, because I dealt with the Degiorgios, not Koħħu.”
Theuma says Fenech told him to warn the Degiorgios, and that he passed on the message by speaking to Mario Degiorgio.
“That was the first time I recorded Yorgen Fenech,” Theuma testifies.
15:48 Theuma says there was discussion about securing bail for the Degiorgio brothers, and that Fenech agreed to cover the cost.
He says Fenech gave him €60,000 for the bail deposit, which he then passed on to Mario Degiorgio.
15:45 Theuma then returns to the second €30,000 payment to the Degiorgios.
“Yorgen told me that there was no need for the Rolex and jewellery as security. I told Mario Degiorgio that just as the mastermind had ordered Daphne to be killed, I could be killed too.
“Mario passed this message on to George Degiorgio, and Degiorgio sent a message back saying I should be more scared of those on the inside [the hitmen] because they could expose me.”
Theuma says he used to worry that Fenech would think he was not passing on the money to the Degiorgios.
“I used to worry that Yorgen would think that I wasn’t passing money to the Degiorgios.”
Theuma takes three puffs from his inhaler. The judge tells him they can take a break every hour if needed.
15:42 Theuma says Mario Degiorgio once told him they needed €15,000 to pay a bail deposit for George Degiorgio’s partner, who had been charged with money laundering.
“I had to find a way to get him the money, because I was on a cruise,” he says. “I got my partner’s daughter to get €15,000 to a guy called David Baldwin. Then I got him to go to Marsa to meet Mario in a yellow Mini Cooper. All while I was on a cruise.”
15:35 Theuma clarifies that the weekly €2,000-€3,000 payments came from Yorgen Fenech.
“When Yorgen was abroad, I would pay the money and then he would refund me,” he says.
Theuma says that on one occasion, he paid Mario Degiorgio €12,000 out of his own pocket.
He says he then went to Portomaso to meet Fenech.
“Yorgen gave me €20,000. I told him I would give the Degiorgios €2,000 this week, and the remaining balance was €6,000. Then I was arrested.”
15:31 Theuma says Mario Degiorgio once gave him receipts from the brothers’ lawyer, William Cuschieri, to show where the money was going.
One receipt, dated May 2018, is for €10,000 and also refers to an earlier payment of €15,000.
Theuma says he hid the receipts behind a cooker hood at one of his properties.
The receipts, which were seized in November 2019, are exhibited in court.
15:28 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks why Theuma felt the need to make up the difference when Fenech was the one who ordered the murder and it was the assassins who were asking for money.
“The assassins didn’t know Yorgen was behind it,” Theuma replies.
Theuma says the requests for money kept coming, with various excuses given, including paying Italian experts working on the case, school fees and living expenses.
He says he was giving them between €2,000 and €3,000 a week.
15:26 Theuma says he later met Mario Degiorgio in Marsa, where he handed him the €30,000 provided by Fenech, together with the usual €200 weekly payment and some meat and chicken “from my own pocket”.
He says that after some time had passed, Mario Degiorgio approached him again, this time asking for another €30,000 as a loan.
“He gave me a gold Rolex and some other jewellery as security,” Theuma says.
Theuma says he informed Fenech of the request.
“He was angry; he felt they’d keep on asking for money indefinitely.”
According to Theuma, Fenech gave him €25,000, while he covered the remaining €5,000 himself.
“I assumed he deducted the €5,000 he had given me before for my holiday,” he says.
15:18 Theuma then recalls his first meeting with Mario Degiorgio, who told him his brothers George and Alfred needed €30,000 for a lawyer. Theuma says he promised Mario he will get him the money.
“I called Yorgen and told him I needed to speak to him. I went near the Hilton and told him the Degiorgios needed €30,000 for a lawyer. Yorgen told me: ‘I had been expecting this.'”
Theuma says Fenech then gives him the €30,000 in cash.
15:11 Before the lunch break, Theuma had told jurors that Yorgen Fenech gave him €5,000 to take his family on holiday. He took him up on that, and said he travelled to London around Christmas.
“He’s a lion and I’m a mosquito,” Theuma said of Fenech.
Theuma tells the court that he began recording Yorgen Fenech after Vince Muscat, also known as Il- Kohhu, began speaking to police.
MT: “Yorgen ignored me after I told him that I was paying the Degiorgio brothers and Kohhu. I was very offended by that. He is the one who ordered the killing. He is who he is and I am just a mosquito. I am nothing near him. They were asking for too much money. I had no choice but to rely on him.”
15:06 The court has resumed after the lunch break, with the judge, jury and Melvin Theuma back in the courtroom as his testimony continues.
13:00 The court has adjourned for lunch, with Melvin Theuma’s testimony set to resume at 3pm.
12:57 Asked how long that period lasted, Theuma said he only began to find some relief in November 2019, when he started revealing what he knew to investigators.
“After the arrests, I was paying €300 to the brothers and €100 to Koħħu. I’d give them money for prison and to remain on good terms. I was afraid they’d rat me out.”
He said he later stopped the €100 weekly payment to Vince Muscat after Muscat’s wife began asking where the money was coming from.
“Yorgen knew I was paying them. I was in a very bad way. He gave me €5,000 to go on holiday with my family.”
12:49 Theuma said the police raid left him in a state of constant anxiety.
“I was very anxious and Yorgen started giving me Ativan. I drew up a will. I figured Yorgen would get rid of me, that I was next. If I was dead, Yorgen could relax. I had never mentioned him to them [the hitmen].”
Asked by prosecutor Godwin Cini why he believed Fenech wanted to kill him, Theuma replied: “If he killed me, he had nothing to worry about. They could never link it to Yorgen because I never mentioned him. Never.”
Theuma said his mental state deteriorated further after the raid.
“Then I started mixing Ativan and whiskey. I’d take them blindly, two at a time. I went onto my roof and planned to jump. But then I pictured Yorgen, one leg over the other, smoking a cigar, and I didn’t.”
12:45 Theuma recalled Yorgen Fenech warning him that investigators were closing in on those behind the murder.
He told the court they met on the road leading to the Żebbuġ ranch, where Fenech said: “We’ve got trouble. They’ve identified the messages sent to detonate the bomb.”
Theuma said he immediately relayed the warning to Alfred Degiorgio.
“A short while later, Yorgen told me there was going to be a police raid on December 5. I went straight to tell Alfred. He asked for more information, so we arranged to meet again on Saturday.”
When they met, Theuma said he told Degiorgio he had not obtained any further information. According to Theuma, Degiorgio said he was due to meet someone that evening, and they agreed to meet again at Portomaso the following day.
Theuma testified that after arriving at Portomaso and going to the toilet, he emerged to find two men in suits, which made him suspicious.
“I got spooked, so I left and went to Hamrun, where I met Alfred at the potato shed. He told me his guy didn’t have any more information. Alfred told me he would never rat on me, and I hugged him. The next day, they raided the place.”
12:39 Theuma said he continued paying the Degiorgio brothers €300 a week after they were arrested.
“I hated asking Yorgen for money,” he said.
He then recalled handing over the murder payment to Alfred Degiorgio.
“I thought Alfred was alone when I gave him the money, but Yorgen told me that Koħħu was somewhere nearby waiting for him,” Theuma said.
He further said that when Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, began revealing information to police, Yorgen Fenech learned about it through Keith Schembri and Silvio Valletta.
12:32 Theuma said he threw away the burner phone he had used after seeing news of the murder.
“The next day, I went to speak to Yorgen at Portomaso. I told him I was afraid because the FBI was coming. He told me they would work just like the Maltese police,” he said.
About a week later, Theuma said he met Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, at a shop in Ħamrun and asked him to take him to the potato shed.
“Alfred wasn’t there, so I asked Koħħu how we were going to sort out the money,” he said.
Theuma told the court that Alfred Degiorgio later arrived and asked for the remaining €120,000, along with an extra €5,000 for binoculars the group had bought.
“I paid for that myself. I didn’t want to ask Yorgen for the money because he’d think I was scamming him,” Theuma said.
12:31 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asked Theuma who he still kept in contact with.
Theuma replied that he texts Matthew and Paul Caruana Galizia, two of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sons.
“I don’t have the words to thank them. I was involved in their mother’s murder, and they still speak to me. They tell me I will feel better after the trial. But I know I won’t. The remorse is too great.”
12:29 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Theuma whether he got anything out of his involvement.
“Depression, that’s what I got,” Theuma replies.
He tells the court that he paid €2,000 out of his own pocket and recalls buying Mario Degiorgio, the brother of Alfred and George Degiorgio, a dog worth €5,000.
“I gave them all the €150,000 that Yorgen gave me. If only I could go back in time.”
12:26 The prosecution asks Theuma to state the date of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Theuma begins breathing heavily and his voice cracks before replying: “16 October at 3pm.”
He then takes out a tissue and wipes his eyes.
Growing visibly emotional, Theuma tells the court: “I was living a normal life, I didn’t want for anything. Then I turned on the TV and saw that Daphne was dead. My life ended. When she was killed, my life was blown up.”
He continues: “Once when I was testifying, Dr Jason Azzopardi told me, ‘Do you know she was a mother and a wife?’ To this day, those words haunt me. I’ll be in bed, feeling bad and I’ll text her sons. I feel huge remorse.”
12:21 Theuma says Alfred Degiorgio once called him on a Sunday to say an earlier attempt to carry out the murder had been abandoned.
“Alfred called me one Sunday and said they were very unlucky because they had everything set but found a roadblock and had to cancel.”
He goes on to tell the court that on 3 October 2017, he travelled to Disneyland in France with his partner and their son, taking with him the inexpensive mobile phone Alfred had given him.
While he was abroad, Theuma says, Yorgen Fenech called to check whether he had taken that phone with him.
Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks how Fenech knew about the phone.
“Once, at the ranch, I had called Alfred on it, in front of Yorgen. I wanted to show him that I was chasing Alfred,” Theuma replies.
He says that while he was in France, Fenech wanted him to get in touch with Alfred Degiorgio.
“I called but he didn’t pick up. Until Daphne was killed, I never managed to get through to him on that phone again.”
12:19 Theuma says Alfred Degiorgio eventually asked him for more information about Daphne Caruana Galizia, including the places she frequented.
“I called Yorgen, and he told me she liked to go to a café in Naxxar and a restaurant in Rabat. I passed that information on to Alfred.”
According to Theuma, Fenech repeatedly asked him about the progress of the plot.
“Yorgen would ask me every few days, ‘When will they kill her?’ Once he was on his boat and texted me to say he was preparing champagne in case it happened.”
Theuma says he would then pressure Alfred Degiorgio for updates, although Alfred became irritated by the constant questioning.
“I’d pester Alfred, and he didn’t like it. He thought it was because of the money, but it was because Yorgen was pressing me.”
He recalls that on one occasion Alfred took him to Bidnija and showed him the spot from where the group had been watching Caruana Galizia.
“We went with il-Koħħu’s car. It was a (Toyota) Passo or Daihatsu, I think, wine-coloured. I wanted to show him that I was chasing Alfred.”
12:11 Theuma recalls Yorgen Fenech giving him a specific instruction about how the attack should be carried out.
“Tell them not to use a bomb like the Romeo Bone one, and just leave her amputated!” Theuma says Fenech told him.
Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks whether he knew how Daphne Caruana Galizia was ultimately going to be killed.
“No. Yorgen said that. I told Alfred, and he said, ‘Don’t worry,'” Theuma replies.
Romeo Bone was seriously injured in a car bomb in Msida in February 2017, losing both legs in the explosion but surviving.
12:08 Theuma says he had never met George Degiorgio or Vince Muscat before the murder plot.
He tells the court that he first met both men at the Marsa potato shed.
According to Theuma, George Degiorgio asked Vince Muscat to fetch him a coffee before remarking: “The Daphne job is giving us trouble, but so many tough guys have died, she’ll die too.” (mietu daqsekk bullijiet ma tmutx hi)
Theuma clarifies that he never discussed the murder with Muscat.
“Il-Koħħu wasn’t there, I never discussed the murder with him. I always spoke to Alfred, and that one time to George.”
He adds that Alfred Degiorgio later obtained two mobile phones for them to use when communicating, explaining that Alfred did not like meeting at the Marsa potato shed.
12:03 Theuma says that after Labour won the 2017 general election, Yorgen Fenech also won the €150,000 bet he had placed through him.
According to Theuma, Fenech called him later that Sunday sounding “tipsy” and told him to go ahead with “the Daphne job”. Theuma says he took no action because Fenech appeared to be drunk.
Around four days later, Theuma says he delivered Fenech’s €300,000 winnings in cash.
“I was owed €7,500 as the broker. He didn’t mention anything about Daphne. I left.”
About two weeks later, Theuma says Fenech summoned him to Portomaso before leaving on a trip abroad.
“He was going abroad and had a suitcase with him. He took out an envelope and a wad of cash. I asked him, ‘What’s this?’ He said: ‘It’s the €150,000 to have Daphne killed.'”
Theuma says he then drove Fenech to the airport before heading to the Marsa potato shed, where he met Alfred Degiorgio.
“I told him he could move ahead. I gave him the €30,000 deposit, and he told me not to mention anything to it-Topo because he, George and il-Koħħu would be handling it.”
Theuma says he kept the remaining €120,000, adding that he cannot remember whether he stored it at home or in his bank safety deposit box.
He says that two days later Fenech called again, urging him to speed things up because “she was going to be publishing some information.”
11:57 The prosecution then turns to the period around the 2017 general election.
Theuma says Yorgen Fenech asked him to stop by and handed him €150,000 to place a bet on Labour winning the election.
“On Saturday I was going to vote and then take my family to Gozo. When we were in Ċirkewwa, Yorgen called me and asked me if I’d act as a security guard outside Keith Schembri’s house ‘because he doesn’t trust everyone’.
“I told him no, that I was going to Gozo with my family.”
11:49 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Theuma how he communicated with Yorgen Fenech.
“Over WhatsApp,” Theuma replies.
“But after Daphne was murdered he installed Signal on my phone. He said it was more secure than WhatsApp and said the Secret Service couldn’t trace us on it.”
11:46 Theuma says that after registering with JobsPlus, he met Tony Muscat, who handed him a cheque “of €850 or €900.”
“I received the second and third cheques by post. I got three or four of them by post.
“I don’t know what the job was, what the work was. Some time later it caused me some trouble, because I really needed a job and I was still registered under that job with JobsPlus. I remember the company was called ‘Maintenance’ something.
“The fourth cheque was late. I called Yorgen, and he called someone and told me I would be getting it.
“Then, a month later, Tony Muscat called me and said I would have to start reporting to work. I told him I had no intention of quitting my taxi business and asked him to strike me off their books.”
11:42 Theuma resumes his account of the meeting at Castille and the job offer he says followed.
“I told them that I couldn’t take the job because I had a taxi. They told me I didn’t need to turn up to work. I left there, called Yorgen and told him, ‘They offered me a job!’
“The next morning I went to the ministry, asked for Tony Muscat and was taken to a small room. Muscat, another man and a woman interviewed me. They told me I had to register with JobsPlus and told me what to write down. I did that and, very soon afterwards, Muscat contacted me.”
Reflecting on the interview, Theuma adds:
“They asked me if I knew how to send an email. I said yes, but to this day I have no idea how to do it.”
11:36 The judge and jurors return to the courtroom, and Melvin Theuma resumes his testimony.
11:09 Theuma says Keith Schembri then instructed him to go to a ministry opposite the old Opera House and ask for a “Tony Muscat”, who, he says, was going to offer him a government job.
“I told him I had no intention of giving up my taxi for a government job,” Theuma tells the court.
At that point, Madam Justice Edwina Grima pauses the proceedings and orders a 30-minute break.
Theuma is under heavy supervision throughout the proceedings. Journalists were not allowed to leave the courtroom until he was escorted out and taken into a separate room, out of sight.
11:04 Theuma says he had skipped over an important part of the sequence of events.
“Two days after I told Yorgen the price, I was heading to Burger King with my son when Yorgen called and told me, ‘Sandro Craus is going to call you.'”
(Craus, a former Rabat mayor, was also an official at the Office of the Prime Minister.)
“As soon as I hung up, Craus called and said I had a meeting scheduled with Keith Schembri at 3pm at Castille. I changed into a suit and drove there. I was thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing at Castille?’ when Yorgen called and told me to go in through the main door.
“I told the soldier I had a meeting with Keith Schembri. Schembri met me halfway up the stairs.
“I had met Schembri once at the [Fenech] ranch. His driver was there too. Yorgen introduced me to him, we just shook hands.
“Anyway, he took me upstairs in Castille and told me how they had restored the building. He gave me a tour, then took me to his office. Sandro Craus got me an espresso and took a photo of me and Keith. Then they took me into a room with a big table and lots of paintings of prime ministers. I took a photo with Mintoff’s.”
10:58 Theuma says that after the conversation with Yorgen Fenech, he called Darren Debono, known as It-Topo, to obtain Alfred Degiorgio’s phone number.
“He told me to go to the Marsa potato shed. I went there, Alfred got into my taxi and I told him, ‘I have someone who wants to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia.’
“He asked if the person could pay, and I said yes, of course. I vowed to never mention him (Yorgen). They found out who he was when he was arrested.”
Theuma says they met again two days later at Busy Bee in Ta’ Xbiex.
“He told me he had a team that would do it for €150,000 with a €30,000 deposit.
“I went to speak to Yorgen, either at Żebbuġ or Portomaso, and told him the price. He said he’d get back to me.
“Then the election was called. Yorgen called me, we met and he told me to tell Alfred to stop everything. I went to the potato shed and told Alfred that. I gave him €2,000 out of my own pocket not to lose face. He said I was a stand-up guy and asked me to speak to him if the important person behind this spoke to me again.”
10:51 Theuma then moves on to events in 2017.
“It was a normal day, around three weeks before the election date was announced. I finished my taxi work for the day and went for a coffee. Yorgen called and asked me to join him at the Blue Elephant [restaurant in Portomaso].
“We went outside to speak. He asked me, ‘Do you know George iċ-Ċiniz from Marsa? Bring him here, I need him to kill Daphne because she’s going to publish information about Uncle Ray.'”
Theuma says he knew George’s brother, Alfred Degiorgio, because he had previously rented an apartment to Alfred and Darren Debono for a month when the Isle of MTV festival came to Malta.
“Then Alfred went to prison and when he was allowed out, I’d sometimes have a cigarette with him as he tended to a garden in Żabbar,” he says.
10:46 Theuma says he rented a shop in Qormi to Yorgen Fenech and Johann Cremona, who used the premises for a gaming business they jointly owned.
“I’d collect a cheque from Johann’s office there in Qormi and have a coffee. I’d cash the cheque and then go to Yorgen at Portomaso, because I felt obliged to him, given he’d sorted me with a taxi spot there. Having a taxi spot in Portomaso is no joke! I owed him.”
During his testimony, Theuma says he charged €25 per day in rent, but also states that he collected €2,300 a month for the premises.
10:41 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Theuma who Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, is.
“I no longer speak to him, but he was like a second father to me,” Theuma replies.
“I had known him for years. When I was a boy, around 30 years ago, he saw me looking after horses in Marsa and told me to go and work for him. He’d pay me Lm75 a week at the time.”
As he gives evidence, Theuma appears relaxed, sitting with his hands resting on his lap. However, he speaks rapidly, often rushing through his words.
10:35 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Theuma to elaborate on his gambling business.
Theuma explains: “Wednesdays was Super 5 day, Saturday was Lotto. If nobody won the jackpot, I kept the money. If they did, I’d pay out. We’d also take bets on French horse races and had TVs showing the races.”
He says he also ran a taxi business using a rented vehicle, which he still operates today.
“At first I’d pick up passengers from the airport. Then one day I picked up some people by the Intercontinental and Yorgen saw me. He told me to start working with him. It was 2015 or 2016.”
10:32 Theuma continues describing his relationship with Yorgen Fenech.
“I knew his uncle when I was just a boy, 22 or 23. They would have meals at the Żebbuġ farmhouse and bet on horses. They’d get me to bet for them.
“When Yorgen’s father died, I drove him, his wife and his mother to the funeral.
“I’d drive them in his Maserati. We’d go abroad to France and he’d pay for everything – flights, meals, everything. He’d break your hand if you tried to reach into your pocket.
“I saw him as Malta’s champion. A great entrepreneur. He knew all the bigwigs. Beppe Fenech Adami would call him and he’d tell me, ‘He’s such a pest,’ and not pick up.”
10:26 Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Theuma to recount the events of 2017, taking them one step at a time.
Theuma begins by explaining how his relationship with Yorgen Fenech developed.
“I would hang out in Marsa. I looked after horses and knew the Tumas family well. I was friends with Yorgen’s uncle, then I became friends with Yorgen.
“He would gamble on horses and then I rented him a shop, and we became very close (biċċa waħda).
“In 2017 I respected him, I adored him. I would do anything he wanted, I never said no to him.”
10:23 Before testimony begins, Melvin Theuma is reminded that he was granted a presidential pardon on condition that he tells the whole truth. He is warned that failing to do so would constitute a breach of the terms of that pardon.
Theuma begins with a brief statement.
“I want to apologise to Daphne’s family. My cross was too much to bear, I can’t imagine what theirs was like.”
10:21 The court then calls what is expected to be the most significant witness in the case.
Melvin Theuma steps into the witness box wearing a dark blue suit and brown shoes.
He will testify while seated, facing the judge with his back to Yorgen Fenech and the defence team.
As Theuma enters the courtroom, lawyers rush inside to take their seats, with anticipation building ahead of what is expected to be one of the trial’s most important testimonies.
10:19 A juror asks for clarification on whether Yorgen Fenech had said he was “fed up of him dumping it all on me.”
The court plays a recording of Vella’s police interrogation.
In the footage, Vella is heard telling investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra:
“He expected Keith to get him out of this trouble. That’s what they’re used to, the entire family… and because he didn’t help him, he said, ‘Well now I’ll bring him down with me.’ He never told me ‘he’s involved’. Keith told him, ‘Don’t you dare escape.'”
During the recording, former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar is seen entering the interrogation room as Vella continues answering questions.
“Gianluca [Caruana Curran] told me, ‘He’s going to end up with 30 years, if you want to help him get him papers from Keith.’
“I never heard anything about Keith getting him into this mess… it’s all because he didn’t help, he didn’t look out for him, he’s fed up of having it all dumped on him.”
After the recording is played, Vella confirms that the statements are accurate.
The judge then tells him he may step down from the witness stand and return home.
10:10 With the defence concluding its cross-examination, prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Vella one final question.
Cini reads from Vella’s testimony given yesterday: “Yorgen Fenech must have said it more than 20 times, that he will take him down because he expected Keith Schembri to help him.”
“Correct,” Vella replies.
10:07 De Marco notes that when Vella testified before the magistrate investigating potential leaks from the murder investigation, he was asked: “Has anyone tried using you in all this?”
“I don’t recall… they both called me and I helped them,” Vella replies.
De Marco then points out that the magistrate had followed up by asking, “To serve them?”, to which Vella had replied, “Keith called Yorgen.”
“Correct,” Vella confirms.
De Marco says she has no further questions.
10:02 De Marco again refers to Vella’s previous testimony, reading the following passage to the court:
“Fenech said, ‘This guy is going to bring me down. I’m fed up of him sowing seeds in my mind, indoctrinating me about what to say. If we go down, we go down together.'”
(Xbajt idaħħali flieles f’moħħi, jindottrinani x’ngħid. Jekk ninżlu, ninżlu flimkien.)
Vella says he remembered the final part of the statement and recalls being surprised to hear Fenech say those words.
09:54 De Marco notes that on Thursday, Vella testified that after he handed Yorgen Fenech the papers, Fenech told him: “If I go down, they’ll all go down with me.”
She points out that Vella never mentioned this to investigators during his interrogation.
Vella agrees and reiterates that Fenech was in a state of panic.
“I asked him if he wanted me to read the papers to him,” he says.
Vella then points towards one of Fenech’s lawyers, Gianluca Caruana Curran.
“Even you… I think you offered to read the papers for him,” he says.
09:50 De Marco reads out an extract from Vella’s 2020 testimony about his police interrogation.
“He (the commissioner) started calling me a liar. I can’t remember exactly why, but he kept calling me a liar. When I told them where I got the papers from, he called me a liar and said I got the papers from someone in the street. I don’t know if he was trying to catch me out. I was shaking.”
Vella confirms that account.
“He was telling me, ‘You wrote the paper’ or ‘someone in the street gave you the paper,'” he says.
09:40 Vella confirms that he was interrogated by police for 17 hours.
“I felt lost,” he tells the court. “I’m not used to these kinds of situations.”
Asked whether he was informed why he had been arrested, Vella replies: “I assumed it was because of the papers. The commissioner was calling me a liar and alleging that I wrote the papers. Eventually he left the room and made some calls.”
09:35 Vella confirms that former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar was present in the interrogation room while he was being questioned.
“He kept saying, ‘Hurry up, I want to go to sleep’ (Iddumx ħa mmur norqod),” Vella tells the court.
De Marco asks whether, every time he told investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra that Keith Schembri had given him the documents, Cutajar interrupted by saying, “Liar, liar” (giddieb, giddieb).
Vella replies that he cannot recall the exact words but remembers Cutajar saying something to that effect.
09:30 Vella confirms that he deleted all of his WhatsApp chats while being driven to police headquarters.
“Yes, I deleted the whole app,” he says.
De Marco asks whether, once at police headquarters, he handed his phone over to the police.
Vella replies that he did, along with his passwords. He says the phone was returned to him a few days later in a brown envelope.
Vella also says that his original lawyer, Stefano Filletti, later told him “he did not want to assist me anymore.”
De Marco asks whether Filletti had told him he had a conflict of interest.
“Yes… I’m not sure,” Vella replies.
09:25 De Marco continues reading from Vella’s previous testimony.
“On our way up (to Gozo) I gave him a box of Ativan (an anti-anxiety medication). You’d have to be crazy to take a box, but he asked me for some Ativan.”
Vella clarifies that by “box” he could have been referring to a strip of pills.
“I never had boxes of Ativan, I had strips,” he says.
Questioning then shifts to the police search of Vella’s home.
Vella says officers began banging on his door at around 11.30pm.
De Marco: “Were you afraid?”
Vella: “Totally.”
De Marco: “You called Keith [Schembri] at 11.30pm or 12.30am, right? Not at 5am.”
Vella: “Correct. At 5am I was under arrest.”
[The last registered activity on Schembri’s phone was at 5.03am. Schembri testified that it was Vella’s call.]
09:19 Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco continues her cross-examination of Adrian Vella.
Vella confirms that during his initial testimony in the compilation of evidence, he said that Yorgen Fenech never intended to flee.
He also confirms referring to Keith Schembri as “the chief”.
De Marco begins asking him about when Yorgen went to Gozo.
He insists that despite other people’s testimonies, Yorgen Fenech never wanted to escape.
Vella confirms that that evening, he left Yorgen in Gozo and went back home to Malta in the evening. The day after he called Fenech again but he did not answer him. He says this was normal.
De Marco now quotes his personal statement, from 27 November 2019.
In this statement he was referring to the morning after he left Yorgen in Gozo.
“Then when we went to gozo, in the morning Ray called him, Keith called him, I called him, Marie called him. He was so bad, that evening we were saying we hope he does not commit suicide.”
He explains that the day after he returned to where Yorgen was in Gozo, he had the key to the house but did not find him, so they went upstairs to his bedroom.
He had said that they found Fenech in his bed appearing dishevelled and dazed.
Vella says he is trying hard to refresh his memory of what happened that day, asking “I said that?” a few times.
09:15 Judge Edwina Grima and jurors enter the courtroom.
Adrian Vella takes the witness stand to face cross examination from defence lawyer Giannella de Marco.
09:00 Good morning and welcome to day 33 of proceedings in the trial against Yorgen Fenech. We expect to get underway shortly.
RSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma takes the witness stand in Yorgen Fenech trial