Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546155
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 AUGUST 2026 ANALYSIS Two sides to the same story: Someone is lying MAYA GALEA mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt FIVE weeks into Yorgen Fenech's trial, jurors have repeatedly heard witnesses recount the same meetings, conversa- tions and events, only for their versions to collide on crucial details. Here they are, side by side, some of the starkest contradictions and conflicting accounts to emerge from several key and high-profile figures over five weeks of tes- timony. And with the trial far from over and more evidence still to be heard, they are unlikely to be the last. KENNETH CAMILLERI VS KEITH SCHEMBRI The issue | Did Keith Schembri send Kenneth Camilleri to calm Melvin Theuma down? The testimony | On day 21, Kenneth Camilleri, a former OPM security guard, testified that Keith Schembri had in- structed him to contact Johann Cremo- na, Yorgen Fenech's business associate, so the two could go and "calm someone down". Schembri, who served as chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat be- tween 2013 and 2019, categorically reject- ed Camilleri's account on Day 24. Asked whether he had instructed Camilleri to go and meet Theuma, he replied: "No. I didn't even have Kenneth's number." Schembri even challenged Camilleri to confront him over their conflicting ac- counts. The dispute took on another dimension on Day 34, when jurors heard a record- ing in which Fenech himself referred to Schembri sending Camilleri to calm Theuma down. Fenech is reported say- ing that Schembri had "walked through fire for me" and had done him a favour by sending the former OPM security guard. The dispute | There is little dispute that Cremona drove Camilleri to Theuma. What is disputed is how Camilleri ended up there: Camilleri says Schembri sent him; Schembri says he did nothing of the sort but jurors have also heard Fenech himself admitting on tape that Schembri sent Camilleri. KENNETH CAMILLERI VS JOHANN CREMONA The issue | One car journey, two very different accounts The testimony | Johann Cremona was a business associate of Yorgen Fenech, heavily involved in the gaming scene, while also being a confidante of middle- man Melvin Theuma. On Day 18 of the trial, Cremona testi- fied that Kenneth Camilleri called him and asked to be picked up. According to Cre- mona, once Camilleri got into his car, the latter specifically asked him to drive him to Melvin Theuma's residence. This prompt- ed Cremona to call Theuma while they were on their way. Theuma confirmed this call on day 33 of the jury. Three days later, Camilleri gave jurors a different version. He said Schembri had simply instructed him to contact Cremo- na so the two could go and "calm someone down". "Keith told me to call Johann, tell him to pick me up and go. That's what I did," Camilleri testified. Crucially, Camill- eri insisted he did not know that the per- son they were going to meet was Theuma and claimed he never told Cremona where they were heading. The dispute | The contradiction is direct: Cremona says Camilleri specifically asked to be driven to Theuma; Camilleri says he did not know they were going to meet Theuma and never told Cremona where to take him. KENNETH CAMILLERI VS MELVIN THEUMA The issue | Bail and €1 million in a bag for the Degiorgios The testimony | On day 33 of the jury, Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed mid- dleman in the murder case, recounted how Kenneth Camilleri returned from a phone call and told him: "The brothers will be granted bail on the 22nd and a million each in a bag." However, On day 21, Kenneth Camill- eri said something completely different. Camilleri said Theuma, unexpectedly asked him to help secure bail for the De- giorgio brothers. Camilleri admitted tell- ing Theuma he would "see" what he could do, but denied promising bail or ever men- tioning "the million". The dispute | Theuma says Camilleri ex- plicitly promised both bail and €1 million each; Camilleri says no such promise was made. KEITH SCHEMBRI VS ADRIAN VELLA The issue | 'Take whatever you want' or 'Take those'? The testimony | One of the clearest con- flicting accounts concerns the documents passed to Yorgen Fenech while he was on police bail. The papers contained a sce- nario implicating former minister Chris Cardona in Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder. On day 24, Keith Schembri testified that he told doctor Adrian Vella to go upstairs and "take whatever he wanted". Vella had been a doctor to both Schembri and the Fenech family for many years. Adri- an Vella had served as the Fenech family doctor for around 30 years and also treat- ed Keith Schembri. Jurors in Yorgen Fenech's trial have heard several witnesses give different accounts of the same story. They will now have to piece the truth from a patchwork of contradictions and inconsistencies that suggest someone is lying Former Office of the Prime Minister bodyguard Kenneth Camilleri Johann Cremona gets out of his car on the day he was recalled by the courts to directly confront Keith Schembri on his testimony (Photo: Jaelle Borg/MaltaToday) Middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assasination Melvin Theuma (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)