Joseph Muscat has refused to outright rule out whether Keith Schembri was leaking sensitive information to suspects in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination investigation
In an interview on the final episode of the ‘Who killed Daphne’ podcast, the former prime minister said he “honestly would not know” if Schembri, his then chief of staff, leaked information.
“I trusted him, and… I thought, as I still hope, that he was on my side on this. In the sense, on the side of the state. I still hope that is the case,” Muscat said.
Questioned if he was politically naïve to keep Schembri by his side, Muscat said that, while it may have been the case, the end result was that the police still did their job and he paid the political price.
Schembri has been quoted in Malta Today as saying that he does not think Muscat's was disowning him with his words on the podcast.
“I have heard the clip many times and I disagree,” he told the news outlet.
Muscat believed Schembri's assurances on 17 Black
Muscat stepped down weeks after Yorgen Fenech, the suspected mastermind, was arrested in November 2019.
During his time in office, Muscat persistently denied ever speaking to Schembri about his link to Fenech’s offshore company 17 Black.
He had also denied knowing if Fenech even owned 17 Black.
Since resigning, Muscat’s narrative on 17 Black has changed.
Muscat admitted to discussing the matter with Schembri, who told him it was a “private venture” that he planned to have with Fenech after leaving politics. 17 Black has been linked to a scheme to channel potential kickbacks to offshore vehicles set up by Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
Muscat acknowledged revelations about Fenech’s ownership of 17 Black were “significant”, however, he says he believed his chief of staff’s assurances that it was part of a planned “business relationship” once Schembri stepped down.
While still prime minister, Muscat had always claimed that his chief of staff had stepped away from the running of his businesses.
The secret nature of 17 Black and the Panama company owned by Schembri have long called into question the claims that this was all part of a normal business venture.
Fenech was the lead businessman on the Electrogas power station project, a key plank of Labour 2013 election pledges.
Muscat defends closeness to Yorgen Fenech
Muscat has also acknowledged his own closeness to Fenech, saying the businessman had admitted to him that he had a cocaine problem.
The former prime minister said he had noticed a change in the way Fenech was acting.
Muscat said he would go for a month-and-a-half not hearing from Fenech, only to suddenly receive a number of messages from him.
He defended his proximity to the businessman, saying many people saw Fenech as being the next big, brilliant mind in Maltese business.
“Everyone knew Yorgen Fenech. Today, everyone feigns ignorance of Yorgen Fenech. Everyone knew him, everyone wanted to be in his company,” Muscat said.