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3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JUNE 2020 POLITICAL CRISIS 'I'm not joking. The story is at finale. Final!' Delia is said to have been with his chief ally, the former head of the PN media Pierre Portelli, at a dinner in Fenech's Zebbug ranch when the offer of some €50,000 in case was made. In the interview on PN media, conducted by ONE news jour- nalist Nicole Buttigieg, Delia was asked when it was that he had met Yorgen Fenech. He said he didn't remember the precise date of the meeting but con- firmed that he had met Fenech as part of his duties. "Meeting businessmen is the work of the Leader of the Opposition," he said. Asked point blank whether Pierre Portelli was there, Delia said he "was not going to men- tion private persons," despite Portelli being a PN official at the time. "I definitely didn't meet Fenech after he was mentioned with regards to 17 Black," Delia asserted. "I never met him after that or took money from him. You know who met him? Keith Schembri," he said. Delia expressed disbelief at the fact that the PL was saying that Konrad Mizzi, who is in govern- ment, had a part in an energy deal with someone accused of murder is normal, but simply meeting with businessmen is bad. "I never met with someone im- plicated in a criminal action," insisted the PN leader, arguing that he had met Fenech as part of a delegation of businessmen as part of his duties. "If it was an important event I would remember, but this was a meeting with many business- men. It's merely my job to do so." Answering another direct question, he said that Yorgen Fenech had no "cedoli" loan with the PN, referring to the party's controversial funding vehicle. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In them, Cremona actively encourages Theuma to stay close to his tapes, in full knowledge that he would leverage the ev- idence in return for a presidential pardon. And Cremona also suggests that Yorgen Fenech's arrest was also a matter of time, name-dropping Kenneth Camilleri, the Security Service detail at the Office of the Prime Minister believed to have acted as a messenger for Keith Schembri, talking about the police's next steps. As reported to MaltaToday, the conver- sations suggest that apart from fearing a money-laundering investigation into his illicit activities that included running unlicensed lotteries and loan-sharking, Theuma realised he would be taking the fall for the assassination of Caruana Gal- izia. "Take care of those recordings. Mark my words, take care of them," Cremona – a business partner in Fenech's gaming company – told Theuma. "I'm not joking," Cremona says. "The story is at its finale. Final!" Then Theuma tells Cremona: "The minute he mentions money laundering… I'll get my presidential pardon on both [crimes]." The two are referring to Theuma's im- pending arrest, with Cremona now clear- ly knowledgeable of the stage at which police investigations in the Caruana Gali- zia investigation are. In the conversation Theuma also refers to his wealth, €2 million in property, of which an unnamed accountant is tasked with handling his portfolio, ostensibly to justify his gains and investments. Theuma is believed to have run a major illegal lot- tery worth millions. But a highly-placed police source this week confirmed with MaltaToday that some €900,000 in cash was discovered at his home during his arrest on 14 Novem- ber, but it remains unclear whether this money was picked up the police. Theu- ma's lotto was pegged to the national one, with major cash prizes. In the conversation, Theuma then says his accountant was handling all his affairs. "I trust him… if they come telling me 'this is money laundering' I'll take them straight to the Attorney General, I'll call up Simon Busuttil and tell him to come along to the AG." Cremona named- rops both Kenneth Camilleri and an unidentified person when referring to Yorgen Fenech and his impending ar- rest. "When I spoke to Kenneth on this matter, he spoke to the other guy, right? He told me the only risk is a fine, that is, no prison. It's noth- ing nice, you know," he said, referring to Theuma's money laundering arrest. "He told me they're all out for Yorgen. They have accepted the case has been fucked, so they are trying to go straight to the head of it all." Cremona also tells Theuma that police wanted to get hold of Yorgen Fenech's mobile phone. "It's all sorted, the story is what it is… one of these Thursdays, it will all be buried." Last week MaltaToday reported a source privy to the recordings saying that Theu- ma can also be heard speaking to Crem- ona, whose name was withheld last week by this newspaper, reassuring Theuma of Keith Schembri's protection from the po- lice investigation. Theuma was under pressure from an FI- AU investigation that had prodded a po- lice investigation into money laundering. In fact it was this pending arrest in No- vember 2019 that led him to admit his role in the Caruana Galizia assassination. Fearing arrest, Theuma reached out to Fenech's associate, anxious about the in- vestigation. "Do you know what I'm really worried about… it's not Daphne, but the money laundering," Theuma told Crem- ona. "You have to accept reality… your prob- lem is going to be a police raid," Cremona replied. Theuma however appears to be agitated and angered at Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri throughout the course of the conversation. "He should have told me about this!" Theuma complains, ostensi- bly referring to Schembri. The Fenech associate however claims to Theuma that he was being protected. "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." Fenech's associate also reassures Theu- ma that he would not face any problems on the money laundering investigation. "Don't forget that these guys are with you, the police and the prime minister, they're all with you. If you get Raymond, then I don't know who else you need," he says, ostensibly referring to Raymond Aquili- na, the economic crimes unit inspector. Former Maltese police commissioner, Lawrence Cutajar, is now under inves- tigation for having tipped off Theuma of his impending arrest. Theuma can be heard saying in an audio recording that Cutajar met his good friend Edgar Brin- cat 'il-Ġojja', and that two dates are men- tioned: the 16th and 26th. Sources who heard the recording said Theuma is heard telling a third party how he had just received word that Cuta- jar had met with a close associate of his. Cutajar said he had given his version of events over the meetings with Brincat and denied any wrongdoing. Il-Ġojja, a close friend of Theuma, is be- lieved to have first convinced the murder middleman to begin recording his con- versations with Fenech and other associ- ates linked to the murder. Cutajar said he had no knowledge of the recordings, and that he had not been ap- proached about the matter by any of the authorities. Cutajar had held two secret meetings with Il-Ġojja during the course of the murder investigation, apparently without the knowledge of the investigative team. Cutajar was approached by investigative partners and told not to do so again. "He told me they're all out for Yorgen. They have accepted the case has been fucked, so they are trying to go straight to the head of it all." FOLLOW MaltaToday tomorrow for Keith Schembri's appearance as witness in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech