Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1285850
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI PRIME Minister Rob- ert Abela has conferred acting powers to his deputy PM on six oc- casions since the end of May for weekends dur- ing which he was out of the country. Information from the Government Gazette shows deputy PM and health minister Chris Fearne was entrusted as acting Prime Minister six times, due to Abela being away from the is- land. Most of the dates fall on Friday-Monday breaks, confirming the prime minister's pas- sion for boating as re- cent videos of him on his recent Azimut ac- quisition in Sicily show. One of these occasions was however an official visit to Libyan GNA leader Fayez al Sarraj on Thursday 28 May. On the other occa- sions, Abela left the country on Friday 3 Ju- ly, and returned Sunday after airports reopened on 1 July with the lifting of the COVID-19 lock- down. A planned de- parture on Saturday 11 July and Friday 24 July, appear to have been cancelled. He went away again on Thursday 16 July, to return on Tuesday 21, and again on Friday 31 July, returning on Sun- day 2 August. According to this week's Victory Day pro- gramme, Chris Fearne was installed as acting prime minister on Fri- day 4 September. But Abela is expected to at- tend a pontifical mass in Gozo tomorrow on Monday. Abela's recent boating trip in August happened to coincide with a rising spike in COVID-19 cas- es: he left on Wednes- day 12 August, and was later photographed and filmed at the Marina di Ragusa in Sicily, exer- cising in an outdoors spinning class. When MaltaToday requested information on the PM's trip in Sic- ily that same week on Saturday 14 August, a party official called this newsroom minutes af- ter filing the request, requesting a journalist to interview Abela on Labour channel One the next day on Sunday. When Abela returned briefly to Malta on Sun- day for his interview, he remarked that jour- nalists had been invit- ed to interview him "in full transparency" but had made their excuses about not working on Sunday. He returned that same day to Ragu- sa where his family was still on holiday. Abela made Fearne acting PM at least six times, always on a weekend, since July Weekends are for PM's boating fun TGIF! Robert Abela gets ready to plough the waves for another weekend break CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Cremona had a direct line to peo- ple inside Castille, among them Kenneth Camilleri, a Malta Securi- ty Service officer said to have done Keith Schembri's bidding. Cremona appeared to gloat in con- versations with Theuma when he marvelled at the desperation of po- lice investigators, whom he claimed, wanted to "steal" Fenech's mobile phone to nail him. "It's sort of gratifying to see the po- lice make such a fool of themselves that they have to steal a mobile phone… it shows these guys have nothing! Stealing a phone. They have nothing. It's a weight off your shoulders," he tells Theuma. According to the conversations, Cremona warned Theuma that po- lice investigators had been given in- formation pertaining to his mobile phone by none other than Arthur Azzopardi, the now former lawyer to accused Vincent Muscat 'il-Kohhu'. Muscat had already named Theu- ma back in April 2018 in the hope of securing a pardon. In late 2019, Cre- mona had hoped Azzopardi could bring Muscat to recant on Theuma, to get the fixer off the hook. "Turu [Azzopardi] gave them everything… everything… bastard," Cremona tells Theuma, who in late October was told by Cremona that police were about to launch a mon- ey laundering investigation under pressure from Europol. Theuma had been anxious about the case, but was suggested by Cremona that his case would be handled favourably by for- mer inspector Raymond Aquilina. But Cremona also adds a crucial detail that coincides with a false nar- rative that was being fed from Cas- tille as late as October 2017: "They've been ready since yester- day," Cremona tells Theuma. "The government is ready to start an in- vestigation on Turu and to say 'the Maltese police suspects Turu and Darren Debono'," he says, referring to the former Valletta footballer who stands charged with fuel smug- gling in a Sicilian court. Cremona even tells Theuma that Europol was banging on the doors of the Maltese police, complaining that they had been sluggish in taking action on him. "They need to carry out a search on you as an excuse. They've made a huge fuss about the fact that you haven't been picked up yet." "There's no time when the for- eigners come into this," he says in a reference to Europol. "You don't know the fuss they kicked up… not one search in two years. They sort of said, that if [the Maltese] had taken action they would have found out some stuff." Cremona also tells Theuma to de- lete all data from his mobile phone. "The biggest danger is your mo- bile phone. Delete everything, clear everything, remove all names. Everything… Mind they don't find anything [incriminating]. They are coming to look through your papers. They are going to look for what you mentioned on the phone," Cremona said, referring specifically to Theu- ma's illegal lottery. But Theuma reacts angrily, accus- ing Keith Schembri of having failed to tell him that his phone was being tapped by police, revealing the ex- tent to which he felt entitled to be informed of police investigations by Joseph Muscat's chief of staff. "Wasn't I tapped on this, Joh? Keith can go fuck himself… shouldn't he have told me?" ("Allura ma jmurx jieħdu f'ghoxx id-demm tiegħu Keith … ma jmissux qalli Keith"). Crem- ona replies: "Not Keith… the other guy should have told you." Cremona once again reminds Theuma of the importance of his recordings, which Theuma is convinced will be the key to his "two" presidential pardons – os- tensibly the assassination and the money laundering charge. "I tell you exactly what Kenneth said… he told me 'he's the key to everything'. Take care of those recordings Melv." Cremona again name-drops both Kenneth Camilleri and Schembri in conversations with Theuma on his recordings. "I'll tell it to you straight… their lives depend on you. Kenneth told me. They depend on you. I'll be hon- est. He's been straight up with you," Cremona says. "Keith," Theuma replies, in the af- firmative. 'Delete everything from phone' MATTHEW VELLA YORGEN Fenech had listed Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff to disgraced prime minister Joseph Muscat, as a next of kin in an arrest report by the Houston Police when he was charged with cocaine posses- sion inside the United States. Fenech was sentenced to 30 days in July 2019 after being caught in pos- session of 8.43 grammes of cocaine at George Bush Interncontinental Airport, when he flew in from Lon- don. Police had been alerted by airline staff that a passenger had noticed that Fenech had snorted cocaine in- side the airline lavatory. Fenech told the police of- ficers who intercepted him at the airport that his purpose for trav- el was to attend a "stress therapy". Then, after further questioning, Fenech told the officers that he was attending a rehabilitation pro- gramme for substance abuse. Officers found two ziplock bags in his luggage, containing the cocaine, which had been concealed within a plastic earbud wrapper. The officers said that Fenech had clearly admitted that the cocaine was his and that he had purchased it in London, before his travel. In the Houston Police Departmen report, the name of Keith Schembri was also listed under the heading of "Relationship - Friend", no doubt a confirmation of the long friendship between the 17 Black owner and the then-PM's chief of staff. Fenech pleaded guilty in a Harris County court. After his arrest on 15 July, Fenech was granted bail at $10,000, later set to $7,500 on request of his public defender. On 16 July, he was com- mitted to the custody of the Sheriff of Harris County, Houston, until he posted the required bond. He was released under court or- der and committed to Sierra Tus- con Hospital, a treatment centre for drug and alcohol addiction. On 29 July, the court sentenced Fenech to serve 30 days in Har- ris County Jail. Following a guilty plea, the judge set aside the order of judgement. On 5 August, Fenech had his Louis Vuitton luggage re- turned. Keith Schembri was listed as Fenech's 'next of kin' in July 2019 Houston cocaine arrest