Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1421642
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 OCTOBER 2021 NEWS The Ministry for Education will continue to assist financially those educators and students who cross the channel on a daily basis between the islands by the introduction of an "EDU Fast Ferry Card". Through the "EDU Fast Ferry" scheme, eligible applicants will be reimbursed a substantial part of the fare when using the fast ferry service on school days. This scheme will apply as from 1 st November 2021. Educators and students are invited to apply by accessing the Education Ministry's website or on the "Education" Facebook page and apply online, by 3 rd November 2021. EDU Fast Ferry Scheme Theuma is heard giving such instructions to (his partner's daughter) Shianne Zammit – or others have not yet been revealed to the defence by the police in- vestigators." The lawyers say that Theuma in court had denied knowing who was financing the assassination, but that the secret recordings indicate that Cremona had told him who had paid the Degiorgio brothers €350,000: "He collected €100,000... Alfred and George don't know them... he got them from the freemasons," Crem- ona is quoted as saying. "And Arthur didn't even given them to Koħħu?" Theuma replies, ref- erencing the accused Vincent Muscat il-Koħħu and his former lawyer Arthur Azzopardi. In another quoted phone con- versation, Theuma is heard say- ing: "Koħħu got €300,000... the cash is still at Arthur Azzopardi." The lawyers also say that Theu- ma is heard saying in his record- ings that there are four people involved in the assassination and that he knows that former Labour minister Chris Cardona is involved in the plot, but that Cardona "knows too much on the Degiorgios for them to shop him". "The version of events Theuma gave under oath was stated before the revelation of the recordings with Johann Cremona, which recordings Theuma believed had been deleted for good," the law- yers said in their complaint. "So it is clear that Theuma is knowl- edgeable of events that he delib- erately neglected to tell the Court under oath, which is itself enough for him to be found guilty of per- jury and false testimony." Theuma was also said to have denied knowing which of his properties would be raided in an impending money launder- ing raid in 2019 that police had intended to carry out after his name had been revealed to Inter- pol investigators assisting in the Caruana Galizia investigation. According to court testimony, Theuma stated that Cremona had only once mentioned his barn (remissa) and that he had denied knowing which of his properties police would raid. Yet in phone recordings quoted by the lawyers, Cremona is heard telling Theuma: "You tell him you've been told where you'll be raided at... tell him Qormi, Żur- rieq and Wied il-Għajn... are they going to involve other people in the story?" Theuma replied: "Charmaine?", referring to his partner's home. "Call Kenneth, Joh," Theuma implores. Cremona then says he will warn Camilleri that Theuma will tell the police everything he knows. "I'll say... 'that guy's determined, he will not be arrested... he's de- termined that he will spill the beans if he gets raided, you can do it whenever you want.'" In another phone conversation quoted by the lawyers, Cremona is heard assuring Theuma that he had spoken to Camilleri about the raids. "I warned them yester- day... I told Kenneth to change those two places... I told Ken- neth, one, two... no women get involved." In another segment of the com- plaint, the lawyers say they chal- lenged Theuma in court about an alleged €30,000 paid by Ed- win Brincat il-Ġojja to former police chief Lawrence Cutajar. Yet the quoted recordings of this conversation were not allowed to be played to the witness at the time of counter-examina- tion. According to this recorded conversation, cited in the police complaint, Theuma speaks of the bribe he was to pass on to Brin- cat, to give to Cutajar; as well as claiming that Cutajar himself told him that Interpol want him investigated on money launder- ing breaches. Melvin Theuma (right) with Edwin Brincat il-Gojja, often described as a mentor and confidant of Theuma. According to MSS interceptions reported in the criminal complaint, Brincat coached Theuma into name-dropping Yorgen Fenech in his secret recordings