Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1259447
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2020 NEWS 'These guys are with you, the police and the prime minister' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "You have to accept reality… your problem is going to be a police raid," the associate re- plies. Theuma however appears to be agitated and angered at Yor- gen Fenech and Keith Schem- bri throughout the course of the conversation. "He should have told me about this!" Theuma com- plains, ostensibly referring to Schembri. The Fenech associate how- ever claims to Theuma that he was being protected. "He can't let you go under… Yorgen is telling you lies… Keith is pro- tecting you without telling an- yone else about it. Because it benefits him…. But he really is protecting you." Also mentioned in the same conversation is 'Kenneth' – os- tensibly Kenneth Camilleri, the Malta Security Service detail assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister; and 'Raymond' – ostensibly the economic crimes squad inspector Ray- mond Aquilina, whom Theuma was expecting to arrest him. Fenech's associate also reas- sures Theuma that he would not face any problems on the money laundering investiga- tion. "Don't forget that these guys are with you, the police and the prime minister, they're all with you. If you get Ray- mond, then I don't know who else you need." MaltaToday's source says the conversation confirms in- formation that Theuma had already been tipped off of his impending arrest by the police, in what was to be the prelude to an admission of his role in the murder. But when he was arrested, it turned out that a different police inspector had been assigned to the case. Re- alising he would not be getting released from the money laun- dering charges, Theuma spilled the beans on the Caruana Gali- zia assassination. But when the arrest was ef- fected by a different police in- spector than the one Theuma expected, this pivotal moment led him to present police with his collection of audio files of recordings he had made while speaking to people implicat- ed in the assassination, like Fenech, but also with a host of other third parties, as well as his wife. Theuma was since then awarded a presidential pardon on condition that he provides all information on the murder plot that took the life of Caru- ana Galizia. The Times has also report- ed that former Maltese po- lice commissioner, Lawrence Cutajar, has been alleged to have tipped off Theuma of his impending arrest. Theuma can be heard saying in an audio re- cording that Cutajar met his good friend Edwin Brincat 'il- Ġojja', and that two dates are mentioned: the 16th and 26th. Sources who heard the re- cording said Theuma is heard telling a third party how he had just received word that Cutajar had met with a close associate of his. Cutajar said he had giv- en his version of events over the meetings with Brincat and denied any wrongdoing. Il-Ġojja, a close friend of Theuma, is believed to have first convinced the murder middleman to begin recording his conversations with Fenech and other associates linked to the murder. Cutajar said he had no knowl- edge of the recordings, and that he had not been approached about the matter by any of the authorities. Cutajar had held two secret meetings with Il-Ġojja during the course of the murder in- vestigation, apparently without the knowledge of the investi- gative team. Sources said that when the meeting was first uncovered, Cutajar had been approached by investigative partners and told not to do so again. Melvin Theuma was anxious about an impending arrest for money laundering, but was assured he would be picked up by a police inspector hand-picked by his political protectors. When that didn't happen, he spilled the beans on the Caruana Galizia assassination "He can't let you go under… Yorgen is telling you lies… Keith is protecting you without telling anyone else about it. Because it benefits him…. But he really is protecting you" MATTHEW VELLA A newly-established board of dis- cipline at the Public Broadcasting Services has been tasked to re- view a contract of employment for its former head of news, Na- talino Fenech. MaltaToday understands that PBS has already notified Fenech to appear before the board, to discuss his conditions of em- ployment at the national broad- caster, which is still paying him a high-end salary as well as having furnished him with a company vehicle. But Fenech was replaced as head of news in 2013 by Reno Bugeja, and since then seconded to an unspecified role at the Uni- versity of Malta. A severance clause in his con- tract with the national broadcast- er entitled Fenech to three years' pay were it to terminate his em- ployment prematurely. But since his employment was never terminated, Fenech re- mained in the employ of PBS. The PBS's board of discipline hearing comes in a bid to clean up various breaches of financial and procurement rules, previ- ously flagged by the broadcaster's directors. In 2018, an investigation by the Department of Contracts had found a "flagrant breach" of pro- curement rules when PBS – on former CEO John Bundy's watch – took out a €398,000 car leasing contract for eight years. The investigation led to the di- rector-general contracts to ter- minate the contract. The board and CEO locked horns over Bundy's profligate spending, with the car leasing contract – which totals at least €469,000 when including VAT – becoming the subject of an inter- nal inquiry by auditors RSM. It emerged that meetings were held with the prospective suppli- er, Burmarrad Commercials, be- fore the company submitted its 'winning' quotation. There was an additional breach: a €398,000 contract was artifi- cially split into 13 individual con- tracts, each representing the cars being leased – one of which was for John Bundy. One of the more curious aspects of the deal was that – according to board minutes seen by Mal- taToday – one of the cars was for the exclusive use of Natalino Fenech, the former PBS head of news. According to the direc- tors' minutes, Fenech was "still on PBS' payroll with all perks and allowances", despite his second- ment to the University of Malta. Former PBS head of news contract under review