Theuma claims Degiorgios threatened with their life if they revealed Cardona’s role in Daphne murder

Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio were threatened that they could be killed if they revealed Chris Cardona's role in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, Melvin Theuma has claimed.

In sworn testimony, Theuma told a court that lawyer and former police officer David Gatt had passed on the message to the two brothers warning them of what would happen if they revealed the former economy's minister's role.

The suspected middleman was giving testimony on Monday in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of masterminding Caruana Galizia's assassination.

Theuma, who had been given a presidential pardon to tell all he knows about the assassination, said the information had been given to him by Mario Degiorgio, Alfred and George Degiorgio's brother.

He also told the court that Gatt had to make "400" available by the time of the Degiorgio brothers' trial by jury. It is unclear within which context this falls.

"Once Mario Degiorgio mentioned a certain David Gatt - whom I had never met or spoken to - and said that Gatt had to make '400' available by the time of the jury," Theuma said.

"I know another thing about David Gatt. Mario had told me that Gatt sent a message with someone that if the Degiorgio brothers rat Cardona out, he is ready to have them killed."

It is also unclear whether "he" refers to Gatt or Cardona.

In 2017, a court had cleared Gatt of any involvement in a string of armed robberies, which included a failed heist on HSBC's Qormi operations centre. Vince Muscat, who, along with the Degiorgio brothers is charged with carrying out the Caruana Galizia murder, was also a suspect in the HSBC heist.

Theuma went on to say that an intermediary, whose name started with a "B" had passen on money from Cardona to Alfred Degiorgio.

Parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who was questioning Theuma, suggested that the nickname of the person concerned was "Il-Bigly".

Theuma said that a photo of the intermediary had been shown to him by Fenech or by Fenech's business partner Johann Cremona - he couldn't remember who of the two it was.

Asked why he had been shown the photo, Theuma said he wasn't sure, but that it might have been in order to calm him down by showing him there were others involved in the crime.

Questioned by Azzopardi, Theuma also said that Cardona was frequently mentioned in conversation between himself and Fenech.

He said that Fenech had told him that on one occasion, Cardona had to be admitted to hospital because of how worried he was after the Caruana Galizia murder.

Cardona, Theuma said, had overdosed.

"Fenech told me Cardona had taken some pills. That's why he was admitted to hospital."

In November 2019, Cardona had suspended himself as economy minister in the wake of mass protests concerning revelations emerging from the Caruana Galizia murder case. He was not made a minister when Robert Abela took over Joseph Muscat as prime minister.

Last April, he also stepped down from a Labour MP, but said he would be retaining his role as the party's deputy leader.

Cardona had courted controversy in January 2017, when Caruana Galizia had alleged that the then minister had been as brothel in Germany while on official government business, claims which he denied.