Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1292560
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS Delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspapers per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production @millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payable to Miller Distributors Ltd on address: Miller House, Airport Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other news- papers and magazines, production@ millermalta.com maltatoday Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday MaltaToday Midweek • €1 BusinessToday • €1.50 Sunday MaltaToday • €1.95 ILLUM • €1.25 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr Schembri asks court to unfreeze assets to pay employees MATTHEW AGIUS SIX companies owned by former prime minister Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri have filed an urgent court appli- cation asking for permission to temporarily unfreeze their assets for the payment of 100 employ- ees' salaries. The application was filed on Saturday before Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja. The court was asked to con- sider the request as urgent, giv- en that Tuesday is the end of the month. Firms belonging to Schembri had their assets fro- zen last Monday after a court issued an attachment order listing 91 people and compa- nies, including Schembri and his business partners, and his accountants at Nexia BT, Bri- an Tonna and Karl Cini, on suspicion of money-laundering offences The application, signed by lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo, states that Schembri and his companies are subject to an investigation and sei- zure order. These companies employ around 100 people on a full time basis, whose liveli- hoods and those of their fami- lies depend solely on their sal- aries. The employees' pay was due on Tuesday and the families were relying on the money "in order to feed their children" and repay bank loans, they said. The lawyers argued that the effects of the garnishee were "catastrophic, not only on the person it was addressed to but intended for, but also on third parties who had nothing to do with the investigation other than the fulfilling of their du- ties as employees who were giving their time to earn their daily bread." Denouncing the order as an injustice, "aggravated by the fact that this order is noth- ing more than an exaggerated Keith Schembri outside the law courts CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 MaltaToday understands that in his statements, Camilleri de- scribes in detail that in 2018, months after the arrest of Vin- cent Muscat 'il-Kohhu' and the Degiorgio brothers – accused of carrying out the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia – he was sent by Keith Schembri to speak to Melvin Theuma. Camilleri said that he was asked by Schembri to 'calm him [Theuma] down': "Camilleri said that Schembri called him on Whatsapp in the evening and told him to go to Theuma to calm him down," sources told MaltaToday. Camilleri drove to Zurrieq, together with Yorgen Fenech's business associate Johann Crem- ona, although he claims to hav- ing not known why he had to tell Theuma to 'calm down'. But Camilleri also stated that Theuma had then told him to tell Schembri to arrange for bail for the Degiorgio brothers. "Camill- eri said that as soon as Theu- ma told him that, he panicked, claiming he had no idea Theuma was going to talk to him about the Degiorgio brothers. He said he tried calling Schembri, but he hung up on him as he was in a meeting." In court in the compilation of evidence against Fenech, Melvin Theuma has corroborated part of this version of events, having claimed that Keith Schembri had "panicked and sent Kenneth to calm me down" when he was attempting to convince Joseph Muscat's chief of staff to secure bail for the Degiorgio brothers, George and Alfred. Theuma has insisted in court that it was Camilleri who told him to inform the Degiorgio brothers that they would be granted bail and given €1 million each. He described Camilleri as being close to Schembri, having been sent by the former chief of staff to meet him in person. But in the statements released by Camilleri, the former secu- rity officer claims the first time he met Theuma had been in an unsolicited approach outside the Auberge de Castille in Val- letta. Camilleri was then exiting the prime minister's car, when Theuma approached him, ask- ing him for his mobile number. But Camilleri, not knowing who Theuma was, did not give him his number. Camilleri said he later got to know about Theuma from Jo- hann Cremona, who told him that he had a taxi stand at Por- tomaso. In another meeting Camilleri had with Theuma was outside the Maltese Parliament, where he was on duty and was called by Johann Cremona. "Camilleri said he had been asked to meet up for a coffee with Cremona, and out of nowhere, Theuma ap- peared and started to talk about bail for the Degiorgio brothers. According to Camilleri, Theu- ma would have said they should give them two 'big bags', possibly cash… Camilleri was adamant that Cremona never call him up again." The statements reveal the ex- tent to which throughout 2018 and 2019, Schembri – Joseph Muscat's right-hand man – was aware of what had happened in October 2017, while the then prime minister was busy build- Camilleri claimed he was unaware of talks about bail for Degiorgios