Yorgen Fenech had discussed escape plan to Tunis with his brother and uncle, court hears
Follow us live here for the continuation of the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech • Court hears how Keith Schembri told police that he lost his mobile phone
19 December 2019, 9:27am
Matthew Agius
Matthew Agius
2 min read
Tumas magnate and suspected mastermind Yorgen Fenech
14:25 Today's sitting is over. Thank you for following.
Kurt Sansone
14:16 The court is now dealing with a bail request. It will deliver a decision in the next sitting of the 23 December at 10am.
Kurt Sansone
14:15 A third officer takes the stand repeating what the other officers said.
Kurt Sansone
14:11 Another police officer from the squad testifies to his part in the 22 November search at Level 21 and Level 3 at Portomaso tower.
Kurt Sansone
14:10 A police officer from the anti-money laundering squad now takes the stand. He was asked to search Fenech's home at Portomaso. Financial documents were what the police were looking for, he tells the court.
Kurt Sansone
14:03 One of the documents was titled Captain Crazy, and the others were in French, Vella says as he exhibits the documents in court.
Kurt Sansone
14:01 Vella talks about the statement taken from Yorgen Fenech at his home in Portomaso and a search of the apartment. He says payslips and a declaration belonging to Melvin Theuma were recovered from the boardroom. A number of documents were also seized.
Kurt Sansone
13:59 Inspector Keith Vella is summoned to the witness stand. Vella works in the anti-money laundering squad.
Kurt Sansone
13:57 The sitting resumes.
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13:45 The sitting has been suspended.
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13:44 Azzopardi reads from the statement about the Dragonara Casino extension, which was awarded earlier this year. He asks whether Cardona had proposed and passed a motion in Parliament to have the Dragonara casino concession extended for 64 years without a tender. "We haven't reached this point so far," Arnaud replies.
Kurt Sansone
13:43 Arnaud: "From what Melvin told us, yes."
Kurt Sansone
13:42 Azzopardi now shows the inspector a paragraph from what appears to be Schembri's statement. "Do we agree that independently from this paragraph, you and your colleague had established that the figure incurred was around €450,000?"
Kurt Sansone
13:39 Arnaud: "We checked with the Freeport to see if there were any licences issued on the Degiorgio brothers but nothing was found."
Kurt Sansone
13:38 Chris Cardona was also mentioned in a deal over cigarette smuggling in the letter, says the lawyer. "Can you elaborate?"
Kurt Sansone
13:36 Yorgen Fenech leaps from his seat and goes to his lawyers at this point.
Kurt Sansone
13:35 Arnaud: “I had investigated the Ferdinand's allegation as to whether Cardona and the other men had met with David Gatt who brought the plan together. Gatt sometimes would be seen at the potato shed.”
Kurt Sansone
13:35 He is asked if the call data in the libel case Cardona had filed against Daphne Caruana Galizia had been seen by the investigation.
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13:34 Arnaud says the police had checked the timings of the libel with the times of the phones and Sim cards being activated.
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13:31 Lawyer Jason Azzopardi (representing the Caruana Galizia family in proceedings) quotes from the letter: "CC, Fredu and Toni would meet at Ferdinand's..."
Kurt Sansone
13:30 Arnaud replies: "Yorgen Fenech had given us details about information in general that allegedly Melvin Theuma had told him before the murder, i.e. that there were plans to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia by two persons in particular. One who is dead today and another by Chris Cardona. "
Kurt Sansone
13:29 In the same letter, Economy Minister Chris Cardona is referred to as "CC". Azzopardi quotes from a paragraph which says that CC wanted to get rid of Daphne Caruana Galizia because of the brothel story.
Kurt Sansone
13:28 Arnaud: “Yes… Sammut now works at the Economy Ministry.”
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13:27 The questions turn to the letter that had been passed on to Yorgen Fenech by his doctor. Azzopardi asks whether the reference to "Toni l-iblah" is a reference to a certain Anthony Sammut?
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13:23 Arnaud answers: “Either the Stamperija or to the Commissioner of Police. In fact, he had asked for the Commissioner of police when he was arrested.”
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13:22 Azzopardi asks about the recordings made by Melvin Theuma. “Did he say where he had intended to have them sent if he was killed?”
Kurt Sansone
13:20 Azzopardi is asking about whether a tip off from a journalist had been found in Fenech's mobile phone. Arnaud is not certain but he believes that he had been informed what was happening in the news and his reaction was to leave the islands. The name of the journalist was not asked of Fenech, Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
13:18 Azzopardi says that Schembri did not remember where he had put his mobile phone. “It is a fact that Schembri was arrested the day after he had gone to the home of the prime minister,” the lawyer adds.
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13:15 Azzopardi asks the inspector about Schembri’s arrest. “Had this been early in the day after his resignation of chief of staff?” Arnaud says does not know.
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13:14 Parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi begins his cross-examination of Arnaud.
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13:11 Cross-examination is being suspended.
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13:10 Police investigations are ongoing, the inspector insists.
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13:10 Arnaud says that the leak from the police was being investigated from the moment that Keith Schembri's name started cropping up. “The police are still trying to locate Schembri's missing mobile. He is being investigated for homicide, tampering with evidence and other offences but these are being dealt with by other police units.”
Kurt Sansone
13:08 Arnaud says that Yorgen Fenech was a suspect since August/September 2018. “His name was mentioned in Castille. Schembri never let on that they were close friends.”
Kurt Sansone
13:07 Arnaud says that at the time he hadn't known that Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech were friends.
Kurt Sansone
13:06 Arnaud: “Yes... I had the most to worry about it because my life was in danger... I had every interest to find out. Schembri had denied passing on information to Fenech.”
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13:05 Camilleri: "Did you investigate it?"
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13:05 Arnaud: "It did. In an informal manner. He did say it eventually."
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13:04 Camilleri asks: “And did it emerge that the information was given by Keith Schembri?"
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13:04 Lawyer Marion Camilleri asks the inspector whether along the way someone was leaking information from the investigation. He responds: "Yes. I found out when I opened the box. I had questioned Fenech strongly on this point."
Kurt Sansone
12:59 Asked about the phantom job given to Melvin Theuma with a government agency, Arnaud says that a separate investigation is being carried out but he isn't involved in it.
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12:57 Arnaud denies mentioning Keith Schembri at that point.
Kurt Sansone
12:56 Arnaud: "I had told him that a long dark tunnel is ahead but don't lose hope, reach the light, say the truth... It's a spiel to get him to talk. We use it. Some people say I'm giving you rope, don't hang yourself with it, but I don't like that phrase."
Kurt Sansone
12:56 Caruana Curran: “What was said?”
Kurt Sansone
12:55 Arnaud: "Yes. I went to speak to him, but not alone. I went down a number of times... I had spoken to him upon his arrival at the depot. I had already seen him at his home and again when he was signed into the depot. It was after 8pm. There I spoke to him alone. Then when he was being released. I spoke to him too."
Kurt Sansone
12:54 Caruana Curran: "Was there a time when you went to speak to Yorgen Fenech alone when he was under arrest?"
Kurt Sansone
12:52 Arnaud: “Yes. The Commissioner of Police would speak to the Prime Minister and then he would leave it hands free and we would talk - we being me the commissioner, the AG and assistant AG.”
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12:52 Caruana Curran asks: “Had you informed the Prime Minister that Keith Schembri's name was being mentioned?”
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12:50 Arnaud says that Yorgen Fenech's mobile is still in Europol's possession. Caruana Curran interjects: “He's been begging you for a month to let him unlock it and show you.”
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12:48 Yorgen Fenech and his lawyers shake their heads in disbelief.
Kurt Sansone
12:47 Arnaud reveals that Keith Schembri's mobile phone was not found at his home upon his arrest. “The phone was never taken into police custody. Keith Schembri told the police that he ‘lost it’.”
Kurt Sansone
12:46 The court disallows a question about Arnaud's WhatsApp chats.
Kurt Sansone
12:46 Arnaud speaks of the phone tapping: “I did not make the request for the tapping of the phone calls of Theuma and Fenech but another member of the task force did. I did not pass on information about the tapping to Schembri. What happed in meetings was coordination with Europol and how to use it well. It was about logistics.”
Kurt Sansone
12:44 Other suspects had mentioned Schembri upon their arrest, the lawyer interjects.
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12:44 Arnaud is asked whether the Caruana Galizia family mentioned Keith Schembri to him in the early stages of the investigation. “They had,” he answers.
Kurt Sansone
12:43 Arnaud confirms that he led the task force on the murder probe. Investigators worked alongside Europol and inquiring magistrate who was also updated on intercepts.
Kurt Sansone
12:42 Arnaud says: “They were formal meetings with the Prime Minister. There were no meetings between me and Keith.”
Kurt Sansone
12:42 Arnaud says that after the arrests in December 2017 some three to four briefings were held at Castille around end of April 2018. At the time, arrangements were made by former deputy commissioner Silvio Valletta. Arnaud would be present for assistance. After Valletta moved out, Arnaud would fix briefings through Keith.
Kurt Sansone
12:40 QUICK REMINDER: The ‘Kenneth’ who met Melvin Theuma is Kenneth Camilleri, who at the time was a police officer who formed part of the Prime Minister’s security detail. Theuma has claimed that Camilleri came to him with a promise of bail for the three men accused of murdering Caruana Galizia and €1 million each. Theuma testified that it was his belief that Camilleri was sent to him by Keith Schembri.
Kurt Sansone
12:30 Arnaud adds: “There was another meeting with the Malta Security Service (MSS) before the arrest operation.”
Kurt Sansone
12:29 Arnaud says that he knew Schembri as head of OPM. “I had first met him when I went to Castille with [then deputy police commissioner] Silvio Valletta before the arrests of the Degiorgios in 2017.”
Kurt Sansone
12:28 Lawyer Ginaluca Caruana Curran asks Arnaud: "Do you know Keith Schembri?"
Kurt Sansone
12:28 Arnaud: “...at the time he was in the police force and was part of the security detail to the Prime Minister… Kenneth was investigated too. He denied promising the million. He had met Theuma at his home with a certain Johann.”
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12:27 Marion Camilleri asks: "Can you tell us where this Kenneth works?"
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12:26 Arnaud: “The majority of the recordings are post murder and deal with bail. There are parts where Schembri is mentioned and these have to do with bail. It was always Kenneth who spoke to Theuma not Keith.”
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12:26 Lawyer Marion Camilleri, who is representing Yorgen Fenech, is asking Arnaud whether he had confronted Theuma as to why he incriminated Keith Schembri and then said nothing about him.
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12:18 Arnaud says that the box with the tapes and the photo was found in Theuma's car and was not opened until the magistrate came to the depot and opened it in everyone's presence.
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12:16 The lawyer asks about Melvin Theuma's testimony. Arnaud says: “The police had found the tapes right away together with the photo of him at Castille. Theuma had given a version before the letter was found, but this explanation contained inconsistencies with the letter. Theuma had mentioned Keith Schembri before he was shown the letter that he had left for Yorgen Fenech. He had said that after being told by Fenech to speak to iċ-Ċiniż, he had gone to work and said that he had met Keith.”
Kurt Sansone
12:06 "So, Keith Schembri was like a puppet master... ruining your investigations," suggests Caruana Curran in a question about the pardon.
Kurt Sansone
12:04 Caruana Curran asks whether the first statement by Theuma was similar to the content of the letter that was allegedly sent by Keith Schembri via the doctor. Arnaud says it wasn’t.
Kurt Sansone
12:03 Arnaud says that Theuma was asked why Schembri was being mentioned in the recordings. He had referred to it as a contract before the letter was found. Arnaud says that Theuma first gave his testimony and then he explained his four recordings to the police, their content and context.
Kurt Sansone
12:02 Gianluca Caruana Curran, who is representing Yorgen Fenech, is asking the inspector about differences in the versions mentioned in the letter and the interrogation of Theuma.
Kurt Sansone
12:00 QUICK RECAP: Inspector Keith Arnaud took the witness stand in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of being the mastermind in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Arnaud has so far testified on the time leading up to Fenech’s arrest and the period he was in police custody. The court has heard how Fenech had a note delivered to him by his doctor from Keith Schembri. The court also heard how Fenech had discussed escape plans with his brother when Mevin Theuma was arrested. Police also recovered a chat between Fenech and his uncle Ray in which the escape was discussed.
Kurt Sansone
11:56 Arnaud says that police had escorted both men in hospital. “Nobody except medical staff were allowed near them. Dr Vella did not visit,” Arnaud testifies.
Kurt Sansone
11:52 Arnaud is asked about the arrest of Melvin Theuma and the medical assistance required by the man during his interrogation. Arnaud says that Theuma had not asked for a specific doctor. “We just took him to hospital. Nobody was allowed to approach Theuma in hospital,” Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
11:51 Arnaud explains that the vessel's AIS and GPS were on and the captain had fulfilled all the formalities required to leave.
Kurt Sansone
11:51 Asked about the boat escape, Arnaud says the captain of the boat had told the police that it was due for maintenance at Pozzallo and had been decided beforehand. Fenech had asked to go with him.
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11:49 Caruana Curran asks whether Arnaud had shared any information with Inspector Kurt Zahra. “I did,” he answers.
Kurt Sansone
11:48 Arnaud ends his testimony. He is now being cross-examined by Gianluca Caruana Curran, who is representing Yorgen Fenech.
Kurt Sansone
11:46 Arnaud continues: “The doctor told us that he had heard Yorgen Fenech say something to the effect that ‘if he goes down, he will drag Keith with him’… Keith Schembri had been interrogated and had denied ever passing on any notes through the doctor.”
Kurt Sansone
11:43 Arnaud says: “In Gozo, Yorgen’s brother Franco Fenech had met them and they discussed how to escape the island. The idea was to escape to Tunis on a boat after a lot of fantastic ideas. Schembri had nothing to do with this part of the escape plan, the doctor had told us.”
Kurt Sansone
11:41 Arnaud tells the court that Vella told police that Fenech had gone to Gozo in the doctor's car. “Fenech had worn a cap, and sat low in the car. They didn't leave the car whilst on the ferry. They went to the farmhouse after buying cigarettes,” Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
11:40 Vella told the police that he had been asked to visit Fenech and found him in a bad state. This was after the arrest of Theuma. Vella suggested that Fenech go and live in his house in Gozo and speak to his lawyers. This was to help him calm down, Vella had told the police.
Kurt Sansone
11:39 Arnaud says that Adrian Vella, the doctor, was asked whether there was an attempt to escape forced by Keith Schembri in the weekend before Fenech's arrest. “There was,” he had said, “but Schembri had nothing to do with this.”
Kurt Sansone
11:38 Arnaud says that the police had investigated everything Fenech was telling them, which is why he was given repeated police bail. Each time Fenech was telling the police new stuff.
Kurt Sansone
11:34 Arnaud clarifies that this conversation was found after Yorgen Fenech's arrest.
Kurt Sansone
11:33 The inspector continues: “A conversation on Yorgen Fenech's phone between him and his uncle Ray discusses the developments, and how he was to leave Malta without being traced. He was planning on going to France and his uncle had suggested he not use his bank cards.”
Kurt Sansone
11:32 Arnaud says: “Media reports of the middleman’s arrest had upped the tension. When news of Theuma's arrest and pardon request broke, the police, who had heard the recordings and suspected that Fenech could be the mastermind had feared he would flee.”
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11:30 Inspector Kurt Zahra asks what led to the fear of Fenech escaping.
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11:30 Arnaud says that Fenech’s arrest was not planned since they first wanted to finish speaking to Theuma but when the news of the middleman’s arrest broke in the media, the police had to increase their monitoring of Fenech. Police saw a number of suspicious manoeuvres and had moved in to arrest Fenech. Arnaud tells the court that the police and the Armed Forces of Malta had manned the ports, the airport and all avenues of escape. This led to the capture of Fenech as he sailed out of Portomaso on his private yacht.
Kurt Sansone
11:27 Arnaud says that over the past three weeks the police had only taken a few hours of time off the investigation. When not questioning one suspect they were looking into information provided by others.
Kurt Sansone
11:23 Arnaud says that on Fenech’s phone they found 140,000+ images. Fenech had said that Schembri had replied "leeee" to whether he was being followed. On Fenech's phone, police had seen a thumbnail of a screenshot of the word and this had led to the decision to arrest Schembri.
Kurt Sansone
11:19 Arnaud says that it was around 1am on the 26 of November that the doctor was questioned and admitted to passing on the document.
Kurt Sansone
11:19 “He was clearly avoiding questions. He was changing what he was saying. Initially he was not a suspect but then he had to be arrested,” Arnaud says.
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11:18 Inspector Kurt Zahra asks why the doctor was arrested.
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11:17 Vella insisted with the police that he had not seen the contents of the note. Police had tried to look at the doctor's phone but he had deleted everything. "Everything was wiped," Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
11:17 Arnaud recounts to the court what Vella told them: “He had found Fenech's brother and lawyer and passed on the document to Fenech. Yorgen Fenech was panicked and was writing a lot on papers, both on the document and others, the doctor had told us.”
Kurt Sansone
11:15 Vella later admitted to passing on the document. He had been sent by Yorgen to pick up a document from Keith. Vella told police that he had not looked at the document, which was not in an envelope. He had folded it in four and placed it in his jacket pocket and went to Fenech's house.
Kurt Sansone
11:14 Arnaud says that Dr Vella was taken into custody and questioned. He said that he knew several generations of Fenech's family. He knew Schembri as a patient.
Kurt Sansone
11:14 The police had checked Fenech's phone to verify this assertion.
Kurt Sansone
11:13 Fenech had said that the night before his arrest he had been contacted by Keith Schembri and had saved the conversation.
Kurt Sansone
11:13 Arnaud explains that according to Fenech, another document in a different font had been passed on by Keith Schembri through Dr Vella the first time he had met him in the lockup. This was two pages long. The second document was intended to make the first one more detailed and flesh it out.
Kurt Sansone
11:11 “The document was passed on to the police. It is typed on a computer and had lots of words and scribbles in biro. When questioned about the document Fenech insisted that he had written on it because he disagreed with the content of the document. The rest he had not written,” Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
11:08 Arnaud tells the court: “Yorgen Fenech had said that Dr Adrian Vella had visited him on Sunday at home and passed on a document containing a version which he would get a pardon in exchange for. He claimed this was sent by Keith Schembri.”
Kurt Sansone
11:07 On 25 November, Fenech had requested a pardon again.
Kurt Sansone
11:07 Arnaud says that he made his report to the Police Commissioner, who filed a report with the Attorney General, who then recommended the pardon to Theuma.
Kurt Sansone
11:06 Arnaud continues: “On 24 November, Fenech’s lawyers spoke to him again and he returned to the police depot. Meanwhile, we were investigating the version he was giving and comparing it with Theuma's. On Sunday 24, Fenech gave a more detailed version of events to the police.”
Kurt Sansone
11:04 Fenech was again given police bail. He was to stay at his home in Portomaso with police presence.
Kurt Sansone
11:03 Arnaud says that Vella, who is Fenech’s personal doctor, had examined him in the lockup on Saturday 23 November. Fenech was taken to hospital and later discharged with a certificate saying that due to medication he was not fit for interrogation for 24 hours.
Kurt Sansone
11:02 Arnaud recounts to the court: “On the 22 November, searches were carried out on Fenech’s boat and in his home. He arrived at the depot around 4pm. Fenech spent 1 hour 15 minutes talking to his lawyer and he wasn't questioned. The next day he spent another hour with his lawyers in the morning but at 12.05pm he was referred to hospital by doctor Adrian Vella.”
Kurt Sansone
11:01 Arnaud tells the court that on 21 November, Fenech had been given police bail. By an agreement with the lawyers, Fenech had police stationed inside his home.
Kurt Sansone
11:00 Fenech explained to the police that he had changed his version because in the first two versions he had been promised a pardon. Fenech had been given police bail in November and spoken to his lawyers.
Kurt Sansone
10:59 On the same day the pardon was given to Theuma, the police spoke again to Yorgen Fenech in the evening. “Fenech requested a pardon but this time the version on Keith Schembri changed on his part,” Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
10:57 Arnaud says that Yorgen fneech was spoken to four times, informally. The first two, before the pardon for Theuma. The information given by Yorgen was investigated. “When the content and recordings were examined the mention of Keith Schembri corroborated each other. We couldn't arrest Keith Schembri because of this,” he says.
Kurt Sansone
10:53 Arnaud says that Theuma had used the name of Keith Schembri to intimidate Fenech so as to ensure his safety.
Kurt Sansone
10:51 Arnaud says that on Theuma's phone, a Signal chat exchange with Fenech was found saying that he was worried about an 18-year sentence for money laundering hanging over his head.
Kurt Sansone
10:51 "Melvin was fixated on the fact that he was in danger. He was the person who acted as middleman, and the Degiorgios didn't know Fenech. So, if he was killed, Yorgen was home free," Arnaud says. That said, Yorgen never threatened him, Theuma told the police.
Kurt Sansone
10:49 Arnaud tells the court that Yorgen Fenech had given Melvin Theuma some money to go on holiday with his family. Meanwhile, Fenech had been arrested and a handwritten paper was found, which Theuma later admitted to writing. This emerged in the media, he says.
Kurt Sansone
10:48 The recordings concerned discussions with Yorgen Fenech on bail for the Degiorgio brothers, and who to blame for a mistake (min għaffiġha). "This emerges clearly from the recordings," Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
10:46 Arnaud says that at first Theuma was allowed to give his version of events and then he was confronted with recordings. "The recordings led us to names we hadn't heard of before. Kenneth Camilleri and Keith Schembri," Arnaud says.
Kurt Sansone
10:44 Arnaud tells the court that Theuma had requested a pardon. After negotiations, this was drafted on 16 November and Theuma was questioned informally.
Kurt Sansone
10:44 Theuma had told the police that he was ready to tell all about a box that he was carrying at the time of his arrest. This was opened and an inventory of it was taken. Electronic devices were handed to Europol for more analysis.
Kurt Sansone
10:43 The homicide squad was not going to be involved in the arrest of Theuma, Arnaud says, but on 14 November 2019, Inspector Nicholas Vella of the ECU told him that Theuma was probably going to try and go to the place where the clandestine lotto was held and destroy the evidence. The police rushed to arrest Theuma, his partner and daughter.
Kurt Sansone
10:41 Eventually the police had seen Theuma use a particular phone for lotto numbers used in money laundering. This was in March 2018. At that point, the Economic Crimes Unit became involved in the Theuma investigation. The homicide squad remained engaged on the side so that if anything of interest emerged they could intervene.
Kurt Sansone
10:40 Arnaud says that several discussions with Europol over intercepts took place. “We had two options, either arrest Theuma in the hope of finding recordings, but this was very risky since if he chose not to answer he would trash the inquiry, or wait.”
Kurt Sansone
10:36 Arnaud says that from the conversations it was understood that Theuma had started recording conversations with Yorgen Fenech.
Kurt Sansone
10:34 Arnaud tells the court that there was a period when Theuma started sounding agitated. He would tell his colleagues that he had problems with Yorgen Fenech but he wasn't being clear about it.
Kurt Sansone
10:34 Theuma would show an interest in the Degiorgios and send them food, he says. The prison logs and records of phone calls made by individual prisoners were examined by the police.
Kurt Sansone
10:32 The inspector says that towards the end of March 2018, Mario Degiorgio spoke to Melvin Theuma, in a call from George Degiorgio from prison. This would happen regularly and would mostly be an exchange of words of encouragement.
Kurt Sansone
10:31 Arnaud is now moving on to the second phase of the investigation, which followed Melvin Theuma and his involvement with Mario Degiorgio, a brother of the Degriogios who stand accused with the murder.
Kurt Sansone
10:24 Yorgen Fenech gazes at his shoes, flanked by security guards as the inspector repeats the information which he had testified to during the compilation of evidence against Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat.
Kurt Sansone
10:22 During the raids on the potato shed, an underwater search found one of the devices used in the murder, Arnaud tells the court.
Kurt Sansone
10:22 Arnaud says that when the REL1=ON message that detonated the bomb was sent the vessel, the Maya, then returned to port.
Kurt Sansone
10:21 The FBI analysis had found that the number, which activated the bomb had moved in tandem with another mobile phone used by George Degiorgio – one of three men accused of planting and detonating the bomb. Arnaud tells the court that the number moved from St Paul's Bay to Marsa and then out to sea, as it was connecting to seaward facing cell towers.
Kurt Sansone
10:17 The last time it was turned on was on 16 October 2017. “Its location was pinpointed at Bidnija,” Arnaud says. Bidnija is where Caruana Galizia’s home is.
Kurt Sansone
10:16 Inspector Arnaud takes the stand. He is talking about the phone numbers and dates of the activation of the bomb triggering device, a SIM900. The bomb that killed Caruana Galizia was triggered remotely with an SMS.
Kurt Sansone
10:15 The defence has asked about the recordings of the conversation between Theuma and Fenech, which Theuma had done. Inspector Keith Arnaud says the recordings are a problem, but does not specify why. The magistrate says the court had already decreed on the matter in the last sitting.
Kurt Sansone
10:13 Lawyers Matthew Brincat and Kathleen Grima are appearing for Melvin Theuma.
Kurt Sansone
10:12 Magistrate Rachel Montebello enters. The sitting is about to begin.
Kurt Sansone
10:12 Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra have also entered the courtroom. Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia for the Caruana Galizia family has also entered.
Kurt Sansone
10:11 Yorgen Fenech is escorted into the courtroom. His handcuffs are removed at the door as he speaks informally to his lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Marion Camilleri.
Kurt Sansone
10:10 Inspector Keith Arnaud and Melvin Theuma are due to testify today.
Kurt Sansone
10:02 Peter Caruana Galizia and lawyer Jason Azzopardi have just walked in. We are waiting for the accused and the prosecution. Magistrate Rachel Montebello has retired to her chambers.
Kurt Sansone
10:00 Middleman Melvin Theuma has been spotted in the corridor outside the courtroom. He was given a presidential pardon to tell all about the murder. His testimony was crucial for the police to charge Yorgen Fenech.
Kurt Sansone
09:58 The parents and siblings of Daphne Caruana Galizia are inside the courtroom alongside their lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona. Lawyers Marion Camilleri and Gianluca Caruana Curran, who represent the accused Yorgen Fenech are also here. They are waiting for the case to be summoned.
Kurt Sansone
09:53 Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb on 16 October 2017 just after leaving her house in Bidnija.
Kurt Sansone
09:52 Three men - George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat - stand accused in separate proceedings with executing the murder.
Kurt Sansone
09:52 Fenech is accused of being the mastermind behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Kurt Sansone
09:49 Good morning. We are back in court today for the continuation of the compilation of evidence against businessman Yorgen Fenech.
Kurt Sansone
Yorgen Fenech had discussed an escape plan to Tunis with his brother Franco, almost a week before his arrest, the court heard this morning.
Testifying in the compilation of evidence against Fenech, Inspector Keith Arnaud said the meeting between the brothers took place at the Gozo farmhouse of Fenech's doctor, Adrian Vella.
Arnaud was reiterating in court what Vella told the police during interrogations.
The meeting took place after middleman Melvin Theuma was arrested during an anti-money laundering operation. Vella told the police that he was called in to see Fenech who was in a bad state.
Arnaud said that Vella suggested Fenech go to his Gozo farmhouse. The doctor had denied that Keith Schembri had anything to do with this escape plan.
But in court, Arnaud also testified on a message extracted by the police from Fenech's mobile in which he had discussed escaping from Malta with his uncle, Ray Fenech. Arnaud said Ray Fenech had suggested Yorgen go to France and not use his credit cards.
During the compilation of evidence Arnaud also revealed that Keith Schembri is still subject to investigations related to homicide and tampering with evidence, among others. The court heard how Schembri informed police that went to arrest him last month that he had lost his mobile phone.
Fenech is accused of being an accomplice in the car bomb plot which claimed the life of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017.
In the last sitting, Melvin Theuma, the middleman in the murder plot, had said that he had feared being blamed for the assassination in a plan hatched by Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri. Theuma has been given a presidential pardon to tell all about the murder.
Testifying in the first session of the compilation of evidence against Fenech last week, the middleman told magistrate Rachel Montebello about a visit he had received from a “Kenneth from Castille”, a man he believed was sent by the prime minister’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri.
Theuma had told the court that Kenneth had asked him to pass on a message to the three men who were accused of the murder, informing them that they would be granted bail and receive €1 million each.
But this Kenneth had also accused Theuma of being the mastermind behind the assassination. The Kenneth being mentioned here is a certain Kenneth Camilleri, who at one point worked as a security detail with the Prime Minister and was then employed with Transport Malta. Camilleri is also close to Schembri.
Matthew Agius was Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday from 2014 to 2024...
