Yorgen Fenech claimed Melvin Thuema, Chris Cardona ‘framed’ him – Arnaud

Yorgen Fenech told police he had been blackmailed by Melvin Theuma and claimed others were trying to pin Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder on him, Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud told jurors on Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday afternoon, Arnaud continued his testimony in Fenech’s trial by jury over the assassination of Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in Bidnija on 16 October 2017. Fenech is charged with complicity in voluntary homicide and criminal association. He denies the charges.

The afternoon sitting focused heavily on Fenech’s police statement, Theuma’s secret recordings, and the investigators’ assessment of claims made by Fenech after his arrest in November 2019.

Arnaud told the court that Theuma’s recordings were mostly conversations between Theuma and Fenech, although there were also recordings involving Johann Cremona and one recording featuring Mario Degiorgio.

He also referred to Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, who was arrested during the mid-November raids because of his links to Theuma and the latter’s illegal lotto racket. Brincat chose to remain silent during police questioning, Arnaud said, but later testified in court about Theuma’s erratic behaviour.

According to the assistant commissioner, Theuma’s mental state deteriorated sharply after Vince Muscat began speaking to police in 2018. Theuma was advised by Brincat and Cremona not to go to the police, with those around him appearing to believe that Fenech’s wealth and power would overwhelm them.

“Without the recordings, it would have been more difficult for us to figure out what was actually going on,” Arnaud told the jury.

The prosecution also asked Arnaud about other car bomb cases investigated by the police. He said Muscat had provided information about the bomb used in the attempted murder of Romeo Bone and the bomb used to kill Caruana Galizia. A separate Għargħur car-bombing attempt also appeared to resemble the same series of attacks, Arnaud said.

Arnaud then read from Fenech’s police statement, which effectively represents his version of events.

Fenech claimed Theuma had become obsessive after the murder, repeatedly pestering him for money and favours while threatening to reveal everything. He also claimed Theuma used fear of the Degiorgio brothers to pressure him, and that he paid out money because he was afraid for his family, his business and his life.

In the statement, Fenech also claimed Theuma was “cooking something up” with former minister Chris Cardona to frame him and extract more money out of him. Cardona, according to Fenech’s claims as read in court, was repeatedly mentioned in connection with Alfred Degiorgio in particular, who was described as a close associate of his.

Arnaud told jurors that while Cardona did frequent people who were known to be of interest to police, investigators did not find direct evidence connecting him to the murder plot.

Fenech also made claims about Keith Schembri, including that Schembri had said he wanted to “get rid of” Caruana Galizia. According to Arnaud, Fenech claimed discussions at his Żebbuġ ranch revolved around Caruana Galizia’s Running Commentary blog and what she had written about Schembri’s personal health and government corruption at large.

Fenech further claimed that Schembri had paid a deposit for the murder and later told him “mexxi, mexxi, mexxi” when Fenech said the plan was in motion. Fenech maintained that he wanted no part in the murder and was being blackmailed by Theuma and egged on by Schembri to follow through with it.

Arnaud also outlined discrepancies between Fenech’s version and Theuma’s account: while the middleman said the plot began around three weeks before the 2017 general election, Fenech placed its origins in late 2016 or early 2017.

Arnaud said Theuma’s account of the execution aligned with cell phone data showing activity from August 2017. He also said phone data did not match Fenech’s claim that his doctor, Adrian Vella, and Schembri had tried to convince him to hide in Gozo before leaving Malta.

The court also heard about phones retrieved from the seabed near the Marsa potato shed, some of which were linked to previous crimes or the Caruana Galizia murder. Arnaud said there was no evidence from those phones suggesting Alfred Degiorgio was in constant contact with Cardona.

Jurors were also shown police photographs of locations linked to the murder, including a garage rented in Mosta or Bidnija, documents bearing Muscat’s signature for the garage lease, and a Santa Venera garage allegedly used to temporarily store the bomb.

The prosecution then asked Arnaud to read from relevant chat extracts from Fenech’s phone.

Arnaud read extracts in which Fenech and Theuma spoke frankly about their concerns related to the assassination plot, including about their fear of their family members getting caught up in the crossfire.

Fenech also repeatedly said that he was protecting Schembri by ensuring that nothing would be traced back to him, and that he felt obliged to protect him because of his loyalty to him as a friend.

“Be 100% sure that you clean up everything…not just on this, but also on your numbers, so they won’t have anything to latch onto,” Fenech says to Theuma in one particularly significant message.

The trial continues on Monday morning at 9am.