'Is K helping?': Schembri's assistant messaged Fenech hours before his arrest

The personal assistant to former OPM chief of Staff Keith Schembri sent a message to Yorgen Fenech hours before the murder suspect was arrested on his yacht in 2019.

Charlene Bianco Farrugia, who held the role of executive assistant to the Chief of Staff, took the stand in criminal proceedings against Schembri over alleged leaks from the criminal investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Schembri is accused of perjury and breaching the Official Secrets Act. He denies the charges.

Taking the witness stand on Monday afternoon, Bianco Farrugia said she held the role from 2013 to 2019, and at the time was focused on government projects and reported to Schembri himself.

The woman was then shown some chats, where she recognised her number and said that they were with businessman Yorgen Fenech.

She flipped through the pages and was asked to explain the content page by page.

“I do not remember anything. I do not recall the context in which this was said,” the woman told the court.

“What do you want her to remember exactly, inspector? As we’ve got to spoon-feed her,” the court observed.

Bianco Farrugia had sent a message to Fenech saying “You be consulting a lawyer?” to which he replied “have Giannella”.

“Is K helping or not?” she asked, to which he replied, “so far. […] but he is playing his game.”

The witness confirmed that “K” referred to Keith Schembri.

“He’s distancing himself”, a message from Fenech read, to which Bianco Farrugia replied, “K? That’s not what he [Schembri] told me…”

On November 18, 2019, Bianco Farrugia texted Fenech saying “K needs to talk to you” to which he replied “I spoke to him”.

In court, police inspector Shaun Friggieri asked her what she meant by “Is K helping or not?”.

“I don’t know what I can explain more than this. I would not know the context,” the witness said. The court intervened, reminding her that she was testifying under oath.

“I don’t recall. It is clear from the messages that Schembri tried to talk to him,” the witness said.

Another message was sent on November 20, 2019, at 4.13am in which Farrugia Bianco wrote: “you took care about what K said re grande fratello?”

“What do you mean?” Fenech replied, to which she said: “He told me that they’re following you.”

In court, the witness insisted that she “just” knew that someone was following Fenech but she did not know who or why.

She “assumed” it was Schembri who had informed her. Pressed to remember, the witness insisted, “I don’t recall. I was not privy to the details of what went on”.

The court questioned the time when the text was sent and why it was sent so early.

“I wake up early,” the woman said. “I would not know what they would have discussed between them.”

The court asked the woman why she did not tell Schembri to text Fenech directly, given that she was “not aware” of what was happening between the pair.

“I would pass on the message. I did not think much of it at the time, and I did not feel I had to question it,” the woman said.

Lawyer Franco Galea, assisting Bianco Farrugia, requested leave of the court to speak to his client. The court observed that she was a normal witness and did not require legal assistance.

The lawyer then requested that her testimony continue behind closed doors without media and third parties.

The court upheld the request, and the sitting continued momentarily behind closed doors.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi then questioned the witness and asked her if she recalled what happened on the day she had sent an early message to Fenech.

“Fenech was arrested,” she said.

The woman insisted that she was not aware of who had been following Fenech when pressed further by the parte civile lawyer.

Former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta also took the stand on Monday afternoon, explaining that in his role, he oversaw investigations as a whole but did not personally investigate.

He explained that then police inspector, now assistant commissioner Keith Arnaud, led the murder investigation together with two others, whose names he could not recall.

On meetings with the Office of the Prime Minister to brief the prime minister on the murder investigation, Valletta would first inform then police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and then call Schembri and tell him that a meeting was needed.

He explained that he pulled out of the investigation when the First Hall of the Civil Court ruled that the former deputy police commissioner, who at the time was married to then Gozo minister Justyne Caruana, should not be involved in the investigation due to a potential conflict of interest.

Some time before the judgement, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi approached the investigators as convicted hitman Vince Muscat, better known as il-Koħħu, sought a presidential pardon.

'Willing to spill the beans'

Valletta had informed Schembri that they need to talk since there was a person willing to spill the beans on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s case.

Johann Cremona also took the witness stand.

Schembri, at the time serving as the OPM’s chief of staff, had called Cremona to Castille. Initially, they discussed gaming.

Then Schembri asked about Fenech. Cremona and companies associated with Fenech were partners between 2011 and 2022. Cremona recalled a phone call from Kenneth Camilleri sometime in April or May 2018.

Camilleri, a former police man who was a security guard to then prime minister Joseph Muscat, and Cremona knew each other since the former was a friend to the latter’s father. Camilleri wanted to meet, and Cremona went down to Tal-Barrani road to meet him.

Camilleri wanted to speak to Melvin Theuma, and Cremona had driven him to meet Theuma. The witness remained in the car as Camilleri and Theuma spoke for about 15 minutes.

“I hadn’t spoken to him for some five years before that day,” Cremona said when asked about his relationship with Camilleri.

The witness explained that they used to lease a shop from Theuma.

Asked if he knew why Camilleri called him, Cremona said “I don’t know and I never asked for an explanation. […] When Camilleri came back to the car and I asked him, he told me not to ask.”

Another time, Cremona was having coffee at Café Royale in Valletta when Theuma called him asking where he was.

Theuma reportedly told the witness that he was outside his house. Some minutes later, Theuma called again, saying he was walking down Republic Street.

Camilleri was working in Valletta at the time, and came down to speak to Theuma, Cremona recalled.

“They did not discuss anything before me. However, I overheard Theuma telling Camilleri, ‘get them bail’,” Cremona recalled, saying he later learnt it concerned convicted hitmen brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio.

At the beginning of Monday’s sitting, technical expert Martin Bajada told the court that the initial inquiry concerned several individuals and data was extracted from various devices in connection with the case.

However, the police requested that the inquiry be closed before the expert filtered out what was relevant to the case.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit presided.

Police inspector Shaun Friggieri prosecuted. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo appeared for the accused. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia appeared parte civile.