LIVE | Yorgen Fenech: ‘I never, never, never ordered Caruana Galizia assassination’

Fenech elaborates on ‘blackmail’ from Theuma

YF: “I first heard that Melvin was going to be arrested in February 2019. EUROPOL were putting pressure on Maltese police for a raid to happen, but they said there was some resistance from the police commissioner [Lawrence Cutajar].”

GDM: “What did they want from Melvin?”

YF: “One of the ways Melvin used to blackmail people was by calling another taxi driver and making claims about others. He would involve other people. He involved me too. This information arrived to Keith and Keith panicked.”

Theuma got information from Brincat, Brincat got it from police commissioner

GDM: “Did you inform someone when there was supposed to be a raid on Melvin? If yes, who?”

YF: “Melvin had been informing me. I wasn’t in Malta until about 9 November. Keith Schembri told me about the raid. Melvin was complaining that his family was going to be arrested.

Melvin received information about these raids from Edgar Brincat, and Brincat got it from that dirty police commissioner.”

He is referring to former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.

Fenech immediately apologises to the court for his comment.

“I am sorry, I am sorry.”

Introducing Dr Adrian Vella to Keith Schembri

GDM: “You were telling us about your cocaine addiction… Had Dr Adrian Vella come to your home?”

YF: “Yes. Dr Adrian Vella has been the Fenech family doctor for many years. We were very close. He also knew Keith Schembri. I was the one who introduced Vella to Keith. Keith had medical problems and I referred him to Vella.”

Who owns 17Black?

GDM: “Who owns 17Black?”

YF: “It has nothing to do with Electrogas. I opened it in Dubai because I wanted to do business in Asia. It wasn’t a secret company. It was only on my name and I was its director.”

Electrogas leaks

GDM: “If there were any leaks, when did you find out?”

YF: “Company data was stolen and the directors were informed. I found out in December 2017. We filed a police report and a magisterial inquiry was opened. I found out about the leaks because the chief operating officer, Catherine Halpin, informed us.

An email about this was also circulated and lawyers warned us that, since we had a lot of contracts with banks and clients, we should file a criminal complaint.

The magisterial inquiry is still ongoing.”

‘They never found anything on Electrogas’

GDM: “Is Socar still a shareholder?”

YF: “Yes, they are. It’s a state company that produces oil and gas from their reserves in Azerbaijan. They signed one of the largest contracts with the European Commission to build a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to Europe.

Electrogas was the most scrutinised project in the history of this country. It was scrutinised by everyone. It has been operating for around 11 years and they never found anything on Electrogas. It is fully functioning.”

Fenech explains Electrogas shareholding

Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco: “You told us that when your father got sick with cancer, he was training you to take over the family business.”

YF: “I was being trained from a very young age.”

GDM: “About Electrogas. You told us that you had absolutely no involvement in the murder. What did the Electrogas deal involve? How many shares do you have?”

YF: “It was created as a consortium. We wanted to bid for governments proposal to introduce liquified natural gas to Malta and shift power generation to gas.

The shareholding was: 33% Siemens, 33% Socar, and 33% for Maltese companies, including Gasan and our family. We have an equal shareholding. My whole shareholding is around 4%.”

Yorgen Fenech’s share in Electrogas is through his shareholding in the Tumas Group and New Energy, which is solely owned by him.

He tells jurors Electrogas had 3 directors each representing Siemens, Socar, and the Maltese companies.

We’re back

We’re back in Hall 22 awaiting the sitting to continue.

The judge enters the courtroom and the jurors take their seats.

Yorgen Fenech will continue his testimony.

Short break

The court is on a short break until 5:15pm.

Fenech says he used to buy drugs from Melvin

GDM: “So, Johann Cremona told you that Melvin was recording you. When you found out, you didn’t sound scared. What was your reaction?”

YF: “I don’t sound scared because the situation was unbearable. You try to numb yourself.

When I got arrested, I could speak about all of the sadness which was inside me. Even during the interrogation, I felt at peace.

My problem was never drugs. My problem was with these people. This circle of people. I got better when I cut them out of my life. I went to two different rehabs to get better. In 2019, I used to buy drugs from Melvin.”

Fenech begins crying on the stand.

YF: “I abandoned my family. I hurt her. She kept supporting me, even after I broke her trust. If they didn’t arrest me, my life would have ended. I don’t have the courage for these things. I don’t have the tools to deal with this evil.”

Rent for gaming company

De Marco asks about the rent for the gaming business.

YF: “I almost fell off my chair when I found out the price of the rent. It was around €20 euros a day. €7,000 a year.”

‘I met Johann Cremona through his uncle’

YF: “Melvin told me some bits, and Johann [Cremona] told me other bits. I met Johann through his uncle Ninu around 2012.”

GDM: “Keith Schembri testified that Johann wanted to talk on something related to gaming.”

YF: “We used to operate the casino and we had entered into a partnership on the registration of new gaming licenses. That’s how I knew Johann. I didn’t meet him regularly. I had set up a meeting with Keith so that he could fix Johann’s issue. The issue was eventually fixed. Eventually we had a company me and Johann and we co-owned it 50/50 – Best Play Limited.”

Theuma’s recordings

GDM: “Were you aware that Melvin Theuma was recording you?”

YF: “Yes. This was around the same time that Vince Muscat started speaking to the police. It was confirmed that there was a meeting between Melvin and Kenneth Camilleri. At first, I didn’t know about this, but I found out later. Keith had sent Kenneth to calm Melvin down and find a way to arrange for bail for the [Degiorgio] brothers and Kohhu.”

Fenech says he gave Theuma information to convince him Schembri hadn’t betrayed him

GDM: “So, when did Keith give you information?”

YF: “A bit before they arrested them. Around April 2018. [Keith Schembri] told me to inform Theuma that one of the hitmen was speaking to Arnaud.

Melvin got very angry. He would say: ‘What did you get me into?’ He got it into his head that I was Keith’s accomplice. He kept saying that Keith betrayed him.

To convince him that it wasn’t a betrayal, I would give him information that Keith gave me.

I wasn’t bluffing.”

‘I was loyal to Keith Schembri’

GDM: “Why did you pass on the message?”

YF: “I was loyal to Keith because he was my friend and he was there for me. I made such a mistake. I knew I was doing something wrong.”

Fenech even speaks about his cocaine addiction.

YF: “I was addicted, and was trying to fight it. My brother used drugs for 20 years.”

GDM: “And your brother died this year…”

YF: “Yes.”

Fenech says passing on message to Theuma was ‘biggest mistake of [his] life’

YF: “I agreed to pass on the message. I think passing on that message to Melvin was the biggest mistake of my life.

We were in the car, and I told him that Keith had spoken to me. At first, he didn’t pay much attention.

He told me: ‘They are always picked up by the police whenever something big happens, then they release them.’

I told Keith, and Keith said: ‘As if! They have evidence. There’s the code for the bomb and more evidence that they used burner phones. They know how the bomb was activated.’

I went back to Melvin and passed on the information.

I also told him that they were to be arrested on 4 December.”

‘My heart skipped a beat’

GDM: “How did you end up here?”

YF: “From November 2017 I was not in the story. But after, Keith Schembri came to my home and asked me for a favour. He told me to pass on a message to Melvin. My heart skipped a beat, as the murder had just been carried out, and Keith was obsessed with Daphne. Keith told me to not tell Melvin but ‘police were closing in on the Marsa potato shed gang.’”

‘A made-up story’

Fenech goes on to explain that he went to Dubai on 2 May, after leaving America.

He says he also has credit card statements to back this up.

This was the day after the 2017 general election was called, Fenech points out.

He further notes that this was the day that Theuma claims Fenech had told him to call everything off.

YF: “It’s such a made-up story. Theuma said I mentioned George Degiorgio to him. I first heard of George Degiorgio from the news when they arrested him on 4 December.”

Passport shown to jurors

Fenech tells the court that he has the receipt for the holiday taken from his credit card.

He adds that this is one of the credit cards taken from him when he was arrested on his boat.

His passport is shown to the jurors, marked with a stamp dated 7 April 2017.

'This was exactly when Melvin made the allegations against me'

GDM: “How long were you abroad?”

YF: “About a month.”

A photo is shown of Fenech abroad on the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship by Royal Caribbean International.

Fenech is posing for the photo in front of the cruise.

YF: “The dates of the cruise were from 15 to 22 April 2017. This was exactly when Melvin made the allegations against me.”

‘I never, never, never ordered her assassination’

GDM: “You heard Melvin Theuma testifying, and you heard the allegations. He said that, in April, he had met you at Portomaso’s Blue Elephant restaurant. It was around two weeks before the first of May. Did this happen?”

YF: “He is alleging that I ordered the hit that day. I never, never, never ordered she be killed. I had no involvement and I want to make this clear. In April, as is clear, I was on a holiday with my family. With children and my family.”

Theuma over the moon over new government job

GDM: “Did you go abroad after?”

YF: “Yes I went abroad in January but Keith [Schembri] was taking treatment abroad. He once called me telling me to tell Melvin that [Keith Schembri] was trying to connect him with Castille’s customer care. I told Melvin they were trying to call him. Melvin told me he was calling with an unknown number.

Melvin called me a couple of days later asking me from where to enter Castille. Keith told me to tell him from the side. Theuma was over the moon he got a job with the government.”

‘That was that’

GDM: “You told Keith about what happened with Melvin?”

YF: “Yes, I told him. He said: ‘You did the right thing.’ And that was that.”

GDM: “Did Melvin Theuma remain your driver?”

YF: “He would drive me places sometimes. But he never drove me anywhere again after this happened.”

Fenech gives Theuma €50,000

YF: “This was heavy. We don’t do these types of things. I came back and Melvin told me: ‘There, we’re done. I have them €30,000. We’ll sort it out later.’

I told him: ‘Melv, calm down,’ but he said he was acting on my word.

‘What word?’ I said to him.

Theuma got very angry because I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about and didn’t give him any go ahead. I gave him €50,000.

I told him I want nothing to do with these things. I told him that the money was so that he doesn’t suffer any expenses. But I told him to stop.

This was in 2016.”

‘A plan is underway to kill Caruana Galizia’

YF: “A couple of weeks passed, and Melvin had come for me to take me to Heathrow in December 2016. When I entered the car, he told me: ‘I spoke to my friend. A plan is underway to kill Caruana Galizia.” I told him where did you come up with this? Melvin said I spoke to them and they want €120,000. At that point, I got a fright. I got the shock of my life.”

“He took me to the airport and I left. At first, I wasn’t going to tell Keith, but I decided to call him. I asked Keith: ‘What the hell is Melvin talking about?’”

‘We will get rid of her easily’

GDM: “What did she write?”

YF: “She had said something that he had an inoperable tumour and he doesn’t have much time to live. She didn’t write nice things. He had young kids and he hadn't even told them yet. His daughter had even called him to ask.”

Melvin had continued to spur him on. I got a bit emotional. We ended up alone that day on the table.

We once again started to discuss the blog. Out of nowhere Melvin said: 'We will get rid of her easily. She’ll get what’s coming for her.'

It seemed a bit overboard, and I left to smoke a cigarette. This was in November 2016.”

‘[Keith] almost had an obsession with Daphne’

YF: “Melvin used to come to our ranch often because he would come for coffee every morning. He used to bring me lamb at around 1pm or 2pm. He used to cook lamb for Keith.

We talked about something posted by Mrs Caruana Galizia, because she had released some information about Keith’s illness. Keith was very emotional about it. Keith was getting hot under the collar. We were telling him to calm down…

He almost had an obsession with Daphne. He was always looking at his phone. He’d be talking to you, and then suddenly look down at his phone in anger. She used to affect him a lot deep down.”

Melvin Theuma and Yorgen Fenech’s relationship

Lawyer Gianella de Marco (GDM) asks again about Keith Schembri

Yorgen Fenech: “When we came back, Keith had bad results and had spent some time not working. He visited me a lot during that period and he liked lamb. I used to call Melvin Theuma because he used to supply me meat and I had called him for some lamb.”

GDM: “How did you know Melvin?”

YF: “He used to go to horse races with dad. He was a book maker. I also used to go watch horse racing. I once was at the office, and he was looking for Uncle Ray and had asked him if he wanted anything. He told me had just bought a taxi. We had two rosters on the taxi stand. Theuma was chosen from the applicants.”

The Żebbuġ ranch

YF: “I remember the day we went abroad with Keith because there was the election in America. It was on the 20 October, I remember.”

GDM: “You own a ranch?”

YF: “Yes, we have one in Żebbuġ. It was my dad’s favourite place. Yes. It was a place where we would go to rest. We didn’t use it for formal arrangements. We used to invite our friends informally.”

Keith Schembri’s cancer treatment

GDM: “You told us Keith was there for you.”

YF: “Keith got sick with cancer in 2016. They gave him advice because Malta was lacking in some things. They advised him to go abroad for treatment. He got advice from the same doctors that helped dad. We went to a clinic in Minnesota, Keith, myself, and Dr Adrian Vella."

Yorgen Fenech becomes CEO of Tumas Group

YF: “2013 was a turbulent time. My brother was not interested in business. He had other complications in his life. My dad was so weak he couldn’t even go vote. We collectively decided that I was going to take over a particular project, a gas consortium. Electrogas. Dad was near his end. He died in December 2014. He was a chairman and managing director for the company. Uncle Ray became chairman and I was CEO of Tumas Group. I used to work 16 hours a day.”

What happened in 2013?

GDM: “What happened in 2013?”

YF: “Labour got into government.”

‘Keith was a shoulder to cry on’

GDM: “What did you do after?”

YF: “I had just had my son. We went to America with him. We tried everything for him, but it just wasn’t enough. It was around this time that I became very close with Keith Schembri. I had a family, it was hard. I lost my father and he was the backbone of the family. Keith was a shoulder to cry on. He was there for me. I considered him a brother.”

GDM: “Did the age gap affect you?”

YF: “No, I looked up to him. He was self-made in the business. He was very successful and still managed to be happy-go-lucky and be kind to everyone. I looked up to him deeply.”

2012 meeting with Keith Schembri, Joseph Muscat

GDM: “What happened in 2008?”

YF: “In 2008 Joseph Muscat was in Opposition and my dad was invited to a dinner for an inauguration with him. I had gone with him and Keith Schembri came in with Joseph… I hadn’t seen him for a while but we had spoken. He asked whether we were still friends in business, and we had started a big friendship. We spoke regularly, we went abroad and we met regularly.”

GDM: “What happened in 2013?”

YF: “In 2012 my father got sick again because in 2000 he lost his kidneys. There was only organ donation option.”

GDM: “How did you feel?”

YF: “My dad was everything to me.”

Fenech and Schembri meet

GDM: “How do you know Keith Schembri?”

YF: “I met him when I was nine or ten. He’s older than me. We used to play football together. I used to go to a bar in Paceville with my brother, and Keith would be there. Keith was a very close friend of my brother. We become very close.”

'My name is Yorgen Fenech'

Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco (GDM) begins questioning Yorgen Fenech (YF).

GDM: “Tell us a bit about yourself.”

YF: “My name is Yorgen Fenech. I’m 44 years old. I used to work in the family business, but then, this case came up. I am married and have two children. I grew up in Santa Lucija.”

GDM: “Tell us a bit about the business.”

YF: “I stopped studying when I was 18 and immediately went into the family business. The business was run by Tumas, and then my dad took over, then, my uncle Ray. Then I started working in the gaming sector.”

Yorgen Fenech takes the stand

Accused Yorgen Fenech has taken the stand to testify before the court.

He will be the defence’s first witness.

No concrete evidence that jurors accessed headlines

The judge says it cannot be ascertained whether the jurors had access to the contents of the articles, including any images or other material accompanying them.

She says there is no concrete evidence that jurors actually accessed the headlines identified by IT expert Martin Bajada.

At most, she says, the few headlines that may have appeared could have provided minimal information about the trial.

The court considers this insignificant and incapable of affecting the jurors’ decision-making.

The judge says any prejudice would have to be sufficiently serious to undermine the administration of justice and affect the right to a fair trial.

The court does not consider the material capable of influencing the jurors and will give them clear directions on the evidence they are entitled to rely upon when reaching their decision.

She denies the request.

The jurors enter the courtroom for the first time today.

Trial to continue

Judge Edwina Grima denies the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

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Judge enters

Judge Edwina Grima enters the courtroom.

Police outside Hall 22

A group of around ten CID police officers, including Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud, have gathered outside the courtroom.

Tensions are high in Hall 22

Tensions are reportedly high in Hall 22, according to our court reporter Maya Galea, who is currently sitting on the wooden bench waiting for the sitting to resume.

Judge Edwina Grima has not yet entered.

However, when she does, Grima will deliver her decision on the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

Lawyers from both sides are anxiously sitting at the table, also waiting for the judge to return. 

Up in the balcony, journalists sit with their heads dug into their laptops.

A substantial number of lawyers are also present in the courtroom.

The queue to enter the courtroom has grown massive, with people pushing past one another to get through.

Court adjourned

Court is adjourned until 2:30pm.

When we return, Judge Edwina Grima is expected to deliver her decision on the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

‘The situation is simply too problematic to ignore’

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca replies that the stage the trial has reached should not be a factor when assessing whether prejudice has occurred.

He acknowledges that dissolving the jury is an “uncomfortable request for everyone,” particularly after all the time and effort invested in the proceedings, but insists that the situation is simply too problematic to ignore.

The defence again points to the jurors having had unsupervised access to outside material, with Mercieca continuing to cite examples of content that was not evidence heard in court.

He refers to an article from the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation with the headline “How corrupt influence enabled murder,” stressing that this was neither a quote heard during the jury trial nor a declaration emerging from evidence.

Mercieca points to editorials accessible through the tablets, including one headlined “Muscat cannot rewrite the history of Daphne’s murder.”

Dissolution would be ‘insult to jurors,’ prosecution argues

Prosecutor Anthony Vella argues that it would be “an insult to the jurors” for the entire trial to be dissolved after everything they have gone through simply because they “could have” seen headlines concerning matters discussed in court.

He concludes that the court can address the jurors directly before deliberation and remind them that their decision must be based solely on the facts and evidence presented in the courtroom.

The court also has the option to instruct them to disregard anything they may have seen in the headlines, as well as any material they may have read before the jury trial began.

Prosecution turns to IT expert’s report

Turning to IT expert Martin Bajada’s report, the prosecutor stresses that the news headlines identified were those which could have appeared on the tablets, rather than proof that jurors had actually seen each of them.

He adds that the headlines generally reflected matters which had taken place inside the courtroom.

On the headline referring to Fenech’s request for a presidential pardon, Vella says this was published after jurors had already been shown the audio-visual recording of Fenech’s own police statement, which constitutes admissible evidence.

Vella also responds to the defence’s comparison with a juror who was removed during last year’s Maksar trial after being found using a tablet.

He distinguishes that case by saying the tablet belonged to the juror personally and was not provided by the court, giving him unrestricted access to the internet.

Prosecution objects

Prosecutor Anthony Vella objects to the defence’s request for the dissolution of the jury.

He argues that the application could have been raised earlier in the sitting while the parties were waiting for the recording of the site visit to be brought to court, thereby avoiding an unnecessary loss of time.

Vella argues that the use of tablets during a jury trial is not regulated by law and that the issue should not lead to the dissolution of the jury.

Defence requests dissolution of jury

The lawyer reads out a number of headlines, including one suggesting that the defence had additional evidence from Keith Schembri’s device.

Another headline stated: “It’s an evil cover-up, Yorgen Fenech says, as jurors hear about pardon request.”

Mercieca also notes that jurors had access to other unrelated content through the tablets, including the headline concerning that jurors have access to BBQ nights, a gym, and pools.

He says this is precisely why jurors have been kept away from their families, arguing that otherwise there would be little purpose in sequestration.

According to the defence, however, jurors were effectively “infiltrated with third-party opinions” through the news headlines accessible on their tablets.

Mercieca formally requests the dissolution of the jury. This “should never have happened”, he says.

Headlines and third-party influence

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca raises concerns over jurors having had access to news headlines through the tablets provided to them during the trial.

The jurors have not yet entered the courtroom this morning.

Mercieca says considerable time and resources have been invested into keeping the jury sequestered from outside influences, and further argues that those efforts have been undermined by their access to press headlines.

He says the number and nature of the headlines identified are concerning, particularly because some do not simply reflect what happened inside the courtroom but contain opinions or refer to matters jurors were not meant to be exposed to.

Mercieca points specifically to headlines concerning Fenech’s request for a presidential pardon.

He specifically stresses that, before the proceedings began, the court ordered that no reference to the request could be made inside or outside the courtroom.

He argues that the jury’s decision should be based solely on what they hear and see in court, saying their “box” should only be filled with evidence presented during the proceedings.

The site visit recording: officers ‘did not even open a drawer’ at Schembri’s villa

Judge Edwina Grima returns to the courtroom after listening to the site visit recording.

The recording focuses on searches carried out at Keith Schembri’s villa.

It includes a statement made by SOCO officer Michelle Camilleri, in which she says that investigators “did not even open a drawer or wardrobe.”

She added that officer would gladly have done so if given the opportunity.

The defence requests for this statement to be included in the official acts of the proceedings.

Sitting to resume soon

IT expert Martin Bajada has arrived at court.

The sitting is expected to resume shortly.

Court expert goes home to pick up recording

IT expert Martin Bajada has gone home to retrieve the recording.

The sitting will continue once he arrives back at court.

Sitting suspended

The judge observes that the question in dispute is unlikely to have a significant bearing on the official record, since scene-of-crime officer Michelle Camilleri has already given evidence during the trial.

Grima adds that if expert Martin Bajada is in possession of the sitting’s recording, it must be brought to court.

The judge suspends the sitting until the recording is found and heard.

‘The court cannot go backwards’

Judge Edwina Grima responds that the court cannot go backwards and amend the record of the site visit.

She further insists that any objection or correction should have been raised before the prosecution formally closed its evidence.

The prosecution also jumps in, asking why the issue is being raised now.

Defence returns to Schembri’s villa search

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca asks to include a question he put to scene-of-crime officer Michelle Camilleri about who was present during the search of Keith Schembri’s Mellieha villa.

Camilleri had testified that officers were instructed to only collect items indicated to them by Schembri.

When asked whether she had searched jackets or bags, Camilleri replied that she had not since she “was not allowed.”

Mercieca appears to want this issue to be clarified in the official verbal record of the site visit.

Judge enters without jurors

As the day begins, Judge Edwina Grima enters the courtroom. However, the jurors’ seats are still empty.

Hall 22 is full of people this morning as the public awaits the defence to begin presenting its case.

Good morning

Good morning and welcome back to MaltaToday's live coverage of Yorgen Fenech's jury trial for his involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Today's sitting will mark the first led by the defence, as the prosecution rested it's case yesterday.

The prosecution's final witness was Andrew Caruana Galizia.

The victim's son gave an emotional testimony in which he recalled his final months with his mother, the day of her murder, and the months that followed.

While we wait, click here for a quick recap of what happened on Thursday.