Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1196490
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 DECEMBER 2019 THE navy-blue yacht had just sailed out of the Portomaso yacht marina on its way to Italy with business magnate Yorgen Fenech on board. But around 5.30am a few miles out at shore, the Gio, a 75-foot Riva Venere yacht, was intercepted by Armed Forces of Malta patrol boats and forced to return back to its moorings. That fateful morning on 20 November rocked the country and started a domino effect that took murder right to the doors of Auberge de Castille. Fenech was arrested as "a per- son of interest" in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder inves- tigation. The attempted flight from Malta came hours after the Prime Minister confirmed me- dia reports that government was considering granting a presidential pardon to the mid- dleman in the murder. The police had in their cus- tody Melvin Theuma, who was arrested a few days before in an operation to crack down on ille- gal lotto and money laundering. Theuma was found in pos- session of a box that contained recordings of conversations he had with Fenech in which they discussed, among other things, bail for the three men accused of Caruana Galizia's murder. This provided the decisive evi- dence that prompted the police to act against Fenech. The Tumas Group sharehold- er was subsequently charged in court with being an accom- plice to murder, of promoting, organising or financing a group with the intention of carry- ing out a criminal offence, and actively participating in this criminal organisation by giving information, material means or the recruitment of new mem- bers whilst aware of the pur- pose of this organisation. Fenech has pleaded not guilty and his compilation of evidence is continuing. But the story did not end there. Both Theuma and Fenech implicated the Prime Minis- ter's former chief of staff Keith Schembri in the murder. Theu- ma claimed that Schembri used to pass on sensitive security details of the investigation to Fenech. Schembri has denied these claims. The developments gave the murder an ugly political twist. Schembri was briefly arrested on 26 November and interro- gated for 50 hours. He was released with no charge but in court, the lead investigator in the murder case, Inspector Keith Arnaud, con- firmed that the former chief of staff was still being investigated for homicide, tampering with evidence and other crimes. In later testimony, Arnaud said Schembri's Castille of- fice was not sealed and only searched properly on 5 Decem- ber, a full 10 days after the for- mer chief of staff was arrested and released. But it was Arnaud's testi- mony that Schembri lost his mobile phone and refused to give the police his iCloud and email passwords that has an- gered people. The information prompted ridicule at what ap- pears to be the police's treat- ment of Schembri with kids' gloves. During bail submissions two days before Christmas, Fene- ch's lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran lamented that while his client is locked up "whoever is trying to frame him is out there [and] proof is being lost". Caruana Curran did not men- tion names but the reference is clearly to Schembri, who has admitted being a very close friend of Fenech. Fenech has so far been denied bail and the compilation of evi- dence against him will continue at the end of January. Meanwhile, Theuma, who is living under police protection, has already testified in the com- Catching the mastermind and shaking the foundations of Castille Ever since three men were charged with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia the question that kept cropping up was who ordered the assassination. The answer came last November KURT SANSONE Alleged masterminder: Yorgen Fenech. Below: the Caruana Galizia family at the law courts with family lawyer Jason Azzopardi, State's evidence Melvin Theuma, former chief of staff Keith Schembri NEWS