Melvin Theuma rented Mosta flat to 2010 HSBC heist gang: 'I found Darren Debono, it-Topo, on the bed with blood on his thigh'

Melvin Theuma has told a court that he had rented a flat to one of the men accused of carrying out the failed HSBC headquarters heist in 2010 as the compilation of evidence reopened this morning.

Theuma testified in front of Magistrate Monica Vella in the compilation of evidence against Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu, and Darren Debono, it-Topo (not the footballer).

Theuma said that around the time of the Isle of MTV concert that was held on the Granaries in Floriana, Debono had asked him whether he had an apartment to rent.

"I rented a flat to him in Mosta for a month. It was in summer and the price was €300. Darren Debono paid for it," Theuma said, adding he could not recall whether Debono was accompanied by Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu.

The HSBC heist was carried out on the same evening in June 2010 when the Isle of MTV concert was happening in Floriana.

Theuma testified that on the day of the concert, he had been eating with his family and received a phone call from Debono.

"I went to my Mosta flat. As you go in on the left there is a bedroom. I found Darren Debono on the bed in his underpants, he had blood on his thigh. They told me that the police had shot him," Theuma told the court.

The witness said that Alfred Degiorgio had asked him to help treat Debono. "I said alright and left the flat and drove away. There were police in the vicinity," Theuma said.

Earlier, Theuma testified briefly in the compilation of evidence against Vince Muscat, insisting that he did not discuss the HSBC holdup with him. Theuma said he had known Muscat snce childhood and they discussed gambling.

Muscat, Debono and Fabio Psaila had been charged with the 2010 heist that ended in a firefight with police. The failed holdup had been part of a series of high profile heists carried out during that period, which included a €1 million haul of cash from the HSBC Balzan branch and an undisclosed amount from the Casino di Venezia.

Theuma's testimony in these cases is one of the conditions included in his presidential pardon to tell all on the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder and other cases. Theuma was granted a pardon in 2019 and his testimony was crucial to lead police to the alleged Caruana Galizia murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

Fenech has pleaded not guilty and the compilation of evidence against him is ongoing.

Vince Muscat, along with Alfred Degiorgio and George Degiorgio, had been charged with carrying out the Caruana Galizia murder. Earlier this year Muscat pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in jail after a plea bargain agreement.

The case against the Degiorgios is ongoing.