Sufficient evidence to issue indictment over Melvin Theuma fake job, court declares

A court has decreed it has sufficient prima facie evidence for the Attorney General to file a Bill of Indictment against five men accused of putting Melvin Theuma on the government’s payroll.

The case against five men accused of putting Melvin Theuma on the government’s payroll through a fake job which he never turned up for, just months after Theuma had helped arrange the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, reached an important milestone on Wednesday morning.

Magistrate Monica Vella issued the decree as the case against Yorgen Fenech - who is already indicted for allegedly commissioning the journalist’s murder, Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister, former OPM customer care chief Sandro Craus, former private secretary in the family ministry Anthony Ellul and former Housing Maintenance and Embellishment Co Ltd CEO Anthony Muscat, continued before her today.

The decree comes a day after the court rejected the defence’s latest request to expunge the testimony tendered by Theuma before the magisterial inquiry from the acts of this case. 

That request was a result of Theuma’s refusal to testify in these proceedings. On the witness stand, Theuma had cited his right not to incriminate himself, after the defence lawyers questioned whether the presidential pardon he was granted in relation to the murder, also protected him from prosecuting over this particular offence.

In its decree, the court made it clear that at this stage of proceedings, the law only required evidence indicating the existence of an apparent case to answer, and not evidence of guilt.

The case will continue on November 25.

Inspectors Nicholas Vella and Brian Paul Camilleri are prosecuting.

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca are defending Fenech. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo are assisting Schembri. Lawyer Stefano Filletti is assisting Muscat. Lawyers Vince Micallef and Ryan Ellul are representing Ellul.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha appeared for Craus.