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JURORS were read out lengthy extracts from statements Yorgen Fenech gave investigators after his arrest as the trial continued on Saturday. In these statements, Fenech claimed former Joseph Muscat Chief of Staff Keith Schembri had put up the initial depos- it on the hit job to get rid of Daphne Caruana Galizia. How- ever, investigators could not corroborate Fenech's account. Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud spent most of his second day yesterday recount- ing how investigators closed in on Yorgen Fenech and what he told police under arrest. Arnaud repeatedly reminded jurors that what was being read out represented Fenech's own version of events. In those statements, Fenech painted himself as the victim of sustained pressure and black- mail by middleman Melvin Theuma. He claimed Theuma relent- lessly hounded him for money, secretly recorded their conver- sations, turned up outside his home, lay in wait near his chil- dren and eventually drove him into depression and cocaine addiction. "I was never afraid of justice," Arnaud read from Fenech's ac- count. "I was afraid for my fam- ily, my business and my life." According to the statement read out in court, Fenech said Keith Schembri had already put up an initial deposit for the murder by around October or November 2016, while Theu- ma repeatedly leaned on him to come up with someone willing to carry it out. Fenech claimed conversations at his Żebbuġ ranch often cen- tred on Daphne Caruana Gal- izia's reporting, saying he and Schembri had grown increas- ingly incensed by her com- mentary on both the govern- ment and Schembri's personal health. According to Fenech, the pair agreed they "needed to get rid of her". He told investigators that af- ter returning from a holiday abroad, Theuma told him the plan was already under way. According to Fenech, Theu- ma assured him the men lined up to carry out the killing had no idea who he was and that the agreed price had been set- tled at €120,000. Fenech said he asked Theu- ma to hold off while he filled Schembri in on what had un- folded, prompting the former chief of staff to allegedly re- ply in Maltese: "Mexxi, mexxi, mexxi" (Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead). But when investigators pressed him on whether the money had ultimately changed hands, Fenech stopped short of answering, saying he would explain "at the appropriate mo- ment". Fenech also claimed he had tried to pull out once he real- ised events had gathered pace. Jurors also heard that family doctor Adrian Vella collected a bundle of documents from Schembri's Mellieħa residence and took them to Fenech at Portomaso when he was out on police bail. Those documents; were a five-page typed document cov- ered in handwritten notes and a separate two-page document in smaller print. One of the papers was the so- called 'frame-up' letter, which sought to pin the assassination on former Economy Minister Chris Cardona by alleging he had "wanted to get rid of Daph- ne Caruana Galizia". Fenech claimed Schembri was behind the delivery of the doc- uments. Schembri, however, has con- sistently denied any knowledge of them, and subsequent foren- sic examinations failed to un- cover his DNA or fingerprints on the papers. Prosecutors also sought to chip away at parts of Fenech's account with police concluding that his timeline simply did not stack up. Investigators were also unable to corroborate several other el- ements of Fenech's account. Jurors were also shown the presidential pardon eventually granted to Theuma. Proceedings resume on Mon- day, when Assistant Commis- sioner Arnaud is expected to continue giving evidence be- fore the jury. 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JULY 2026 FEATURE seph Muscat. The trio shared an intimate WhatsApp group chat. This gave Yorgen unfet- tered access to the corridors of power during the Muscat legis- latures in 2013 and 2017. In court filings it transpired that Fenech had even paid for Schembri's medical treatment in the United States when the latter was diagnosed with a ra- re form of cancer sometime in 2018. In December 2014, Yorgen gifted Muscat one of 25 limit- ed-edition Bvlgari white-gold watches designed in 2004 for the occasion of Malta's EU ac- cession. The watches, worth €20,000 in 2004, had been pur- chased by Yorgen's late father. On the occasion of Muscat's birthday party in 2019, Fenech gifted the former prime minis- ter three bottles of the expensive Petrus wine—one dated 1974 and two dated 2007, Muscat's birth year and that of his twin daugh- ters, respectively. The gifts are held by the State, according to an inventory ta- bled in parliament six years ago. Muscat was forced to resign from prime minister in January 2020 following massive protests in Valletta after his right-hand man, Keith Schembri, was implicat- ed in Caruana Galizia's murder when Yorgen was arrested. Schembri was never charged in connection with the murder but he is facing charges of hav- ing breached the Official Secrets Act when he divulged sensitive information about the murder investigation to Yorgen Fenech. Schembri has pleaded not guilty. Shareholding empire Meanwhile, company data shows that Fenech has retained shareholding in several firms, in- cluding Digital Gaming Ltd and Oracle Gaming Ltd, which he co- owns with his uncle, Ray—each have 50% shareholding. Yorgen Fenech also holds 100% shareholding in Gio Navigation Ltd, presumably the company that owns his yacht, the Gio, on which he tried to leave Malta on the morning of his arrest in 2019. The yacht was stopped by an Armed Forces of Malta patrol vessel just after it departed from the Portomaso Marina. Fenech is also the sole shareholder and director in New Energy Supply Ltd, the company he set up as a personal vehicle as part of the Electrogas consortium. He then holds minority stakes in the Fenech family estate with share- holding in Tumas Group Co. Ltd, TGI Ltd and Moonflower Hold- ings Ltd. Yorgen Fenech's shares within this business empire are worth millions. Financing a murder Now aged 44, Yorgen Fenech is undergoing a trial by jury as the person, who prosecutors believe masterminded Caruana Galizia's assassination. He spent just over five years in preventive custody at the Corradino Correctional Facility until his release on bail in February last year with his aunt acting as guarantor by putting up €50 million in company shares as security. At the start of the trial last week, prosecutor Anthony Vella from the Attorney Gener- al's Office explained that Fenech orchestrated and financed the op- eration from behind the scenes. "Without Yorgen Fenech's role, Daphne Caruana Galizia would not have been killed," Vella told jurors. The prosecution is alleg- ing that Yorgen paid Caruana Galizia's killers €150,000 through middleman Melvin Theuma. Theuma, who was granted a presidential pardon to tell all about the murder, was Yorgen Fenech's confidante, who was giv- en the privilege to operate his taxi from the Hilton Hotel grounds. Theuma was also involved in clandestine betting, an opera- tion that earned him thousands of euros and connected him to the criminal underworld. The prosecutor described Caruana Galizia as "a wife, a mother, a sister" whose life was cruelly ended on 16 October 2017 at 2:58pm. Fenech is pleading not guilty to the charges and the trial is ongoing. Company shares worth millions of euros < FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Yorgen Fenech escorted by prison officers Trial day 4: Yorgen Fenech told police Keith Schembri put up initial deposit for murder plot ĦALEY XUEREB hxuereb@mediatoday.com.mt