Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546155
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 AUGUST 2026 NEWS YORGEN FENECH JURY TRIAL Keith Schembri tipped off Johann Cremona on Theuma phone tapping, jurors told YORGEN Fenech repeatedly told Melvin Theuma that no- body would touch him as long as the Labour Party remained in government, the self-con- fessed murder middleman told jurors on day 36 of Fenech's trial. The claim emerged as prose- cutors displayed chats between the two men, including an ex- change referring to a Malta- Today article reporting that Labour was leading by 80,000 votes. "Let's hope it's true," Theuma had told Fenech. The political reference came towards the end of another lengthy day dominated by se- cret recordings, phone calls and chats involving Theuma, Fenech and businessman Jo- hann Cremona, with jurors hearing about police surveil- lance, financial pressure from the Degiorgio brothers and at- tempts to avoid being caught. 'If you and I remain strong, no one can touch us' Several messages showed Fenech reassuring an increas- ingly anxious Theuma follow- ing Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder. "No one can touch me," Fenech told him in one exchange. In another, he said: "If you and I remain strong, no one can touch us." Theuma said these messages reassured him but believed Fenech was also worried that he might eventu- ally expose him. According to Theuma, Fenech knew he was "weak" and feared he could crack under pressure. In another message, Theu- ma told Fenech to make sure that "if there is any evidence, you destroy it immediately". Asked who he meant by "you", Theuma said he was referring to Fenech and former chief of staff Keith Schembri. Jurors al- so saw exchanges concerning fears that investigators were listening to their conversa- tions. Theuma said Fenech referred to police as "the cousins" and warned him to be careful about what he said over the phone. Theuma also described a plan between himself and Fenech to manipulate the meaning of ev- idence in investigators' hands. He said they agreed to make it appear that an earlier reference to Fenech having "betrayed" him concerned a taxi-related issue rather than the murder. According to Theuma, the plan was intended to un- dermine the evidence, with Fenech suggesting they could get investigators to "stop lis- tening", referencing the Malta Security Service. Plan to get foreign-SIM phone to Alfred Degiorgio Another exchange concerned Alfred Degiorgio. Theuma said he desperately wanted Degior- gio to know that the money be- ing passed on to the brothers was being paid through him, claiming he was even prepared to hit someone with a glass so he would be imprisoned and could speak to Degiorgio him- self. Instead, Fenech allegedly told him somebody "from our side" would obtain a mobile phone fitted with a foreign SIM card and pass it to Degiorgio in prison because their exist- ing phones were "marked". Fenech's finances also surfaced through references to 17 Black and reports about alleged €5,000-a-day payments in- tended for companies linked to Schembri and Konrad Mizzi. Theuma said those reports re- inforced his belief that Fenech had sufficient financial means to continue funding the De- giorgios. "Our power is mon- ey," he recalled Fenech telling him. 'There was only one mastermind' Despite references to Schem- bri repeatedly featuring in the recordings, Theuma contin- ued to insist that Fenech alone commissioned the assassina- tion. Although he was heard de- scribing Schembri as Fenech's "accomplice", Theuma said it had been a mistake to refer to him that way. He insisted Schembri nev- er commissioned him, paid him or personally spoke to him about the murder, saying he associated Schembri with Fenech because he believed Schembri passed information to him. "There was only one master- mind: Yorgen Fenech of Tu- mas Group," Theuma reiter- ated. Theuma also explained that his secret recordings be- came a form of protection. Without them, he said, there would have been nothing to substantiate his account. "If I didn't have recordings, I could say the parish priest commis- sioned me. Who would believe me?" he told jurors. Fenech tried to 'find out what Valletta knew' Theuma claimed Fenech would invite then-Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta to his Żebbuġ ranch and try to "find out what Valletta knew". Cremona was also heard warn- ing Theuma to dispose of his phone and distance himself from Fenech because Fenech was under increased scrutiny. Theuma said Cremona told him Fenech had received a new phone through Schembri's sec- retary, Charlene Bianco Far- rugia.Theuma admitted that some of his own claims about police contacts were bluffs, saying he had falsely pretend- ed to Cremona that he was receiving information from police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. He insisted the commissioner never requested money in con- nection with his presidential pardon. Cremona also allegedly re- assured Theuma that inves- tigators would not "close in" on them, with Theuma saying Cremona believed the Mak- sar brothers, Chris Cardona and lawyer Arthur Azzopardi would instead ultimately "go down". Theuma also spoke about Fenech's increased co- caine use following the assas- sination, saying the murder had serious psychological con- sequences for those involved and revealing that he himself abused pills afterwards. MAYA GALEA mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt "If I didn't have recordings, I could say the parish priest commissioned me. Who would believe me?" Melvin Theuma has been on the witness stand since Friday