Ex-police commissioner says he used car dealer to 'gain' information

Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar told a court that he saw a request for help from a car dealer as an opportunity to “gain” information about other cases.

Cutajar testified on Thursday morning in separate but related criminal proceedings against Edgar Brincat, better known as il-Ġojja, and his daughter, medical doctor Stephanie Brincat.

Brincat, often described as a father figure to murder middleman Melvin Theuma, was charged last year along with his daughter. The pair deny the charges.

Investigators stumbled across the medical certificate during a wider inquiry into leaks by public officials during the murder investigation.

Cutajar was a focus of the leaks’ inquiry after he allegedly asked Brincat during one of their meetings if he knew where Theuma kept a secret recording implicating businessman Yorgen Fenech in the Caruana Galizia murder plot.

Brincat is subsequently understood to have informed Theuma that the police commissioner knew about the recordings.

Theuma was arrested in November 2019 as part of a money-laundering investigation that was used as a ruse to successfully secure those recordings while Cutajar was still police commissioner.

The murder middleman is now the star witness in the case against Fenech, who denies any involvement in the October 2017 assassination. In February, police inspector Sarah Magri, who was at the principal citation office, had explained that Edgar Brincat left a certificate with someone else, and she presented the certificate in separate proceedings against Brincat, during a sitting for which he did not appear.

On Thursday morning, the court asked whether Cutajar should be cautioned ahead of his testimony, to which prosecuting inspector Shaun Friggieri said no, adding that “what he will be testifying on today is not under investigation.”

Cutajar was a police commissioner between 2016 and January 2020. After recognising Edgar Brincat in the courtroom, Cutajar said he knew the accused from his time as an inspector stationed at Żejtun and Birżebbuġa districts.

They would speak sometimes. The former police commissioner added that he did not see Brincat for some years and only saw him again when he was a superintendent at Qormi police station.

“Your honour, this happened, I do not know how many years ago, but this is a medical certificate issued in Brincat’s name. But I cannot say it is the same one which was given to me, and I will explain,” Cutajar said.

Around May 2019, Brincat went to Cutajar, worried after he received a summons. The accused was worried that if he were to be found guilty, his licence would be suspended, and this would impact his work. He also told Cutajar that he was not the one at the wheel.

Cutajar directed him to speak to his lawyer.

“But then my brain clicked. I could use this [Brincat’s request for help] in connection with other cases,” Cutajar told the court, adding that from then on he kept in touch with Brincat.

Close to the sitting, Brincat informed Cutajar that he had to appear in court but was unwell. The witness recalled telling him to obtain a medical certificate, which he found in his letterbox some days later.

“I knew what it was and took it to the Principal Citation Office so that the certificate could be presented in court,” Cutajar said.

“In the circumstances, despite the criticism, I did what I had to do,” Cutajar said.

The defence reserved their right to cross-examine the witness at a later stage.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella presided. Police inspector Shaun Friggieri prosecuted. Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili appeared for Stephanie Brincat, while lawyer Stefano Filletti appeared for Edgar Brincat.