Wrap: Yorgen Fenech trial hears of payments to Daphne hitmen after arrests
Two witnesses said they helped pass money to the three hitmen while they were in prison
The jury in Yorgen Fenech’s murder trial has heard how money was regularly passed to the three hitmen after their arrests over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Lawrence Pace, known as il-Lolly, told the court on Friday that self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma wanted to give money to George and Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat to support their families while they were in prison.
Pace said he passed the money to Joseph Brincat, owner of the Marsa White Star bar, who would then deliver it to the Degiorgio family, via a brother. He said receipts were returned after each payment as proof the money had been received.
Brincat later confirmed making five payments on Pace’s behalf. He said the first payment amounted to €300 before later payments were reduced to €200.
Although he never asked what the money was for, he insisted on receiving a receipt each time and stopped making payments when, on one occasion, none was provided.
Under cross-examination, Pace also described accompanying Vince Muscat twice to Siġġiewi to hand over envelopes of cash to an unidentified person. He said Muscat never explained what the money was for and that he declined to take part after the second occasion.
The witnesses were giving evidence in the trial of Fenech, the former CEO of Tumas Group, who denies charges of complicity in the murder of the journalist in a car bomb outside her home in Bidnija on October 16, 2017.
Theuma, who was granted a presidential pardon in exchange for his evidence, claims Fenech gave him €150,000 to pay someone to murder Caruana Galizia over something she planned to publish.
Earlier on Friday, the court heard evidence from Europol explosives expert Mario Cmarec, who outlined the findings of a post-blast examination the journalist’s hired car.
He estimated the device contained between 300 and 400 grams of high explosive and said several findings were consistent with the use of TNT. The court also heard evidence that the improvised explosive device included an electronic relay capable of being activated remotely by SMS.
Bank payments to Theuma
Later in the day, BNF Bank employee Stephen Baldacchino presented banking records relating to Theuma, including documents concerning payments between him and BestPlay Gaming Ltd, a company linked to the Tumas Group.
They included cheques and a document signed by Theuma confirming €2,250 received from BestPlay was for rent in Qormi, covering the period from January 2017 to 31 March 2017.
The trial resumes on Saturday morning, when former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and an associate of Melvin Theuma, Edgar Brincat, are expected to be among the witnesses.
As it happened
Court adjourns until tomorrow
4.19pm The jurors are packing up and leaving the room, bringing today's proceedings to a close. Thank you for following our live coverage.
We'll be back tomorrow morning with updates from the courtroom. We'll publish a summary of today's sitting above shortly.
Police chief's phone
4pm Prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini is now reading the testimony of another witness, Charmaine Zammit, who worked for Epic. She gave evidence in April 2021 about a request from lead investigator Keith Arnaud for information on a number registered to former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. Police were looking for, among other things, localisation data on the number for the last year.
Architect's report
3.44pm With no witnesses available yet, the prosecution begins reading the testimony of Richard Aquilina, a court appointed architect.
He was tasked with providing spacial descriptions of various sites linked to the Melvin Theuma money laundering investigation.
His evidence describes an apartment in a block in Żurrieq that consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a garage next door. The testimony also refers to safe deposit boxes in BOV bank in Marsa. There was cash totalling €781,826.64.
Aquilina was also tasked, separately, in the murder inquiry, with creating a site plan of the murder scene and was responsible for a site visit at the potato shed in Marsa.
He had also conducted a site visit at Percius car hire in Lija from where Daphne Caruana Galizia was renting her car at the time of her murder.
Furious judge
3.42pm The judge is angry with the prosecution about its inability to bring more witnesses. Lawyer Godwin Cini tells the court the prosecution contacted witnesses on Thursday evening to ensure they would attend and spent the lunch break trying to reach those due to testify, but without success.
Former police chief to testify tomorrow
3.35pm Asked if there are any more police officers that could testify, the prosecution says no.
We're given an insight into who will take the stand tomorrow, however. Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar will testify tomorrow.
Edgar Brincat, a car dealer who was close to Theuma, will also take the stand.
Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.An early end to the session?
3.31pm The prosecution is saying that's enough witnesses for today. But judge Edwina Grima is not having it.
She says there are six other witnesses that were supposed to testify on Friday. The prosecution says they could not bring these people to testify today.
“Do what you must to bring others to testify. I’m not going to waste an afternoon. It’s 3.30pm,” the judge instructs.
Call logs
3.28pm Under cross examination, the former Melita employee says the company provided informaton on the device, SIM card, calls and SMS, and localisation of mobile at the time.
She was asked for call logs. She explains if a request was made in October 2020, calls can only be provided for the last 12 months.
Next witness: Marie Claire Tabone
3.21pm The next witness is Marie Claire Tabone, who used to work with telecommunications company Melita Limited. She's confirming a number that was registered to Edgar Brincat, an associate of Theuma.
Europol expert testifies
3.10pm The next witness is Marco Torri, a former with Europol digital forensics and cybercrime expert, who is testifying via video link.
He tells the court he was asked to assist the Maltese authorities with searches of several devices seized during inspections.
No can do
3.07pm The defence would still like to play the recording for the jurors, but judge Edwina Grima says it is not relevant to the witness's evidence, and does not need to be played right now.
The witness explains that his role was purely technical. “Recordings, interrogation, whatever - on a level of crime, I paid no attention," he tells the court. "I followed my orders, the court told me to do something technical and I did it.”
If we play a recording would you be able to confirm that the recording is part of your report, the judge asks.
“No.”
His testimony ends there.
Recording between Theuma and his confidante
3.05pm The recording the court is referring to is between Melvin Theuma and Johann Cremona. However, the witness makes a quick disclaimer that he has not heard any of these recordings.
“I can only confirm the properties of the file, the information and times (duration) associated with each file," he said.
[Johann Cremona was a business partner of Yorgen Fenech, a confidante of Melvin Theuma and was also in contact with Keith Schembri.]
Voice 'nine'
2.56pm During cross examination, defence lawyer Charles Mercieca asks about voice 'nine'. The prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini says the recordings will be played out in court. Defence lawyer Gianella De Marco insists on hearing this particular recording now, because they would like to ask the witness about it.
Voice recordings
2.50pm The witness explains how he extracted and converted audio recordings found on Melvin Theuma's devices into accessible audio clip. A document is submitted explaining what was extracted from the devices: 81 recordings on one drive and three on another.
[Theuma secretly made recordings of his conversations with Yorgen Fenech and later handed them to police in an ice cream box.]
Next witness: Alvin Cardona
2.41pm Alvin Cardona is the next witness. He was tasked with scanning and photocopying various documents found in an ice cream box of evidence Melvin Theuma handed over to police. They included pictures of text messages and the now famous photograph of Melvin Theuma and Keith Schembri taken at Castille.
The photo of Melvin Theuma, right, and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, left.Courtroom heat
2.37pm We're back. As proceedings resume, the lawyers are complaining about the heat in the courtroom. From the gallery, where we are located, the air conditioning feels rather strong.
Lunch break
12.28pm Jurors are leaving for their lunch. We'll be back at 2.30pm.
Next witness: Superintendent Rennie Stivala
12.20pm Superintendent Rennie Stivala testifies. He is speaking about the arrest of Ryan Farrugia, the boyfriend of Melvin Theuma's partner's daughter. His property was searched in his presence and items, including jewellery and €111,000 in cash, were found on site.
They returned with Europol and found more items.
Who's who
12.17pm We're aware there are many names in this trial and that sometimes it can become confusing. Jacob Borg's guide to the key figures is essential reading.
More transcripts
12.14pm Another court-appointed transcriptionist, Marisa Mifsud, has joined her colleague on the stand and they are confirming more transcripts.
Transcribing recordings
12.04pm Margaret Debattista has taken the stand. She tells the court she was appointed by a magistrate to transcribe a series of audio recordings. It has not been stated whether these are the recordings Theuma made of his conversations with Yorgen Fenech.
The transcript identifies the speakers only as "Person A", "Person B" and "boy". Under questioning, Debattista says she could distinguish three voices and identified one of them as that of a young boy.
Further documents are being presented to the court.
'Bad repute'
11.49am Defence lawyer Gianella de Marco refers to a section of the report stating that Theuma was considered to be of "bad repute".
The witness explains that this assessment came from BNF's relationship manager, who suggested the bank close its account with Theuma. But the witness says he has nothing to do with this. His job was merely to collect documents and present them in a report.
His testimony is over.
BestPlay Gaming Ltd
11.33am The bank official is taking the court through documents relating to Melvin Theuma. There were payments between Theuma and BestPlay Gaming Ltd, a company linked to the Tumas Group. He presents a commercial lease agreement with rent payable every three months.
The official is flipping through a report headed 'BestPlay Gaming Ltd'. There's a cheque in the report made out to Theuma for €2,300 from BestPlay Gaming Ltd.
Baldacchino refers to a document signed by Melvin Theuma confirming €2,250 received from BestPlay for rent in Qormi, covering the period from January 2017 to 31 March 2017.
There's also a seizing order from Caruana Galizia's widower and sons against Theuma, Fenech, the Degiorgios and Vince Muscat. The witness says he was gathering all relevant information in this file.
[Yorgen Fenech was a CEO at Tumas Group and BestPlay Gaming Ltd was one of many companies connected to him before his arrest.]
Theuma documents
11.31am Stephen Baldacchino, a BNF bank employee, is testifying via video link. He asks to be released from professional secrecy before telling the court he has been asked to present documents and bank statements relating to self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma.
Sitting resumes
11.21am Judge Edwina Grima is back in the courtroom and today's proceedings can resume.
Short break
10.52am There's no cross-examination for this witness. We're taking a short break now until 11.15am.
Five payments
10.45am Brincat tells the court there were five payments. The first was for €300, but eventually the payments went down to €200. He doesn't know exactly when the payments were reduced.
Brincat says he was never interested in knowing more about the purpose of this money transfer.
He says he always insisted on receiving a receipt so that he could pass it on to Lawrence Pace as proof that the money reached its intended destination.
One time, he didn't receive this receipt and refused to continue transferring the money.
Next witness: Joseph Brincat
10.44am Next up is Joseph Brincat, owner of the Marsa White Stars bar. He explains how Lawrence Pace, il-Lolly asked him to pass on money to the Degiorgio family.
He knew Mario Degiorgio, a brother of George and Alfred Degiorgio, who were then in prison, suspected of murder. He didn't know why Lawrence Pace wanted to pass money to the Degiorgios and never asked. He was just doing him a "favour", he tells the jury.
The first payment was €300. He assumed it was €100 each for George, Alfred and Vince but he didn't know for sure how it would be divided as he "didn't get involved".
Brincat says he received a receipt for the money from Mario Degiorgio and would pass this receipt back to Lawrence Pace.
Jurors ask about receipt
10.35am It’s time for the jurors to ask their questions. One of the jurors asks about the receipt for Theuma’s payments. He says Theuma knew about it and would sometimes go to Joseph Brincat’s shop.
Pace's testimony ends here.
Twice to Siġġiewi
10.31am The defence lawyer asks about the Siġġiewi errand. She asks: “Did he say what this money was about? Did he gamble or have debt?”
Pace confirms that Vince Muscat used to gamble and would sometimes find himself in debt. Pace says he only accompanied him twice before telling him he didn’t want to be involved.
De Marco asks about the receipts that he used to receive, specifically whether there was his name written on any of these receipts.
“I don’t even know how to read, let alone see what was written on the receipt,” the witness replies.
All from Marsa
10.29am De Marco continues. “Melvin knows these people well too,” she says of the three hitmen.
Pace says he doesn’t know, but he confirms that they were all from the same Marsa area and would frequent the same shops.
Cross examination
10.28am Defence lawyer Gianella De Marco begins cross-examination.
She asks Pace about his relationship with the three hitmen. Pace says he knew Vince Muscat and the Degiorgio brothers because they all lived in the same area of Marsa. Pace used to work with Customs but used to frequent certain shops.
“They trusted you, didn’t they? Since they were asking you to pass around money,” De Marco comments.
Witness details cash handover
10.19am Under questioning, Pace says he accompanied hitman Vince Muscat to Siġġiewi, to pay a man some money on his behalf.
The witness describes being at the Ta' Rafel shop in Ħamrun when Muscat appeared and asked him to join him on a chore to Siġġiewi.
When they arrived in the village pjazza, Muscat told him to leave the car and wait for a small car to pass by.
Muscat handed him a small envelope with some money but did not explain what it was for. When the car arrived, Pace gave the envelope to the person inside. He was handed a receipt.
Paying the imprisoned hitmen
10.08am Pace tells the court he was questioned by police in 2019. At this point, the three hitmen were all in prison.
Prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini asks him to explain how Melvin Theuma ended up in the picture.
Pace says he was in a shop in Ħamrun and Theuma was saying he needed to send €100 to each of the three (Degiorgios and Vince Muscat) to take care of their family after their arrest.
The arrangement was Pace was to pass the money on to a third person, Joseph Brincat, who would get it to the prisoners' families.
Every four weeks, Pace would pass on cash to this Joseph Brincat.
Lawrence Pace, il-Lolly
10.08am Next up is Lawrence Pace, known as il-Lolly. He tells the court how he knew all three hitmen, Vince Muscat, and brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio.
He also knew self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma.
Triggering the bomb
10.03am The explosives expert is talking about the relay, which is an electrially operated switch that triggers detonation. He says the component contains an electronic board and can be used to communicate wirelessly between devices. In improvised explosive devices, he says, a relay can be activated remotely by a specific SMS message, triggering the explosive.
No further questions for this witness.
The make-up of the device
9.51am Cmarec is now taking jurors through the components of the explosive device.
He says investigators identified three main categories of fragments linked to the device: metal, plastic and particles. Referring to a metal plate recovered from the scene, Cmarec says the device was built around a metal plate about 5mm thick.
He says improvised explosive devices like this usually involve containers, which can be used to either hide the device, or even cause further fragmentations. For example, a metal container would shatter into pieces and cause further harm.
The powerful car bomb killed Daphne Caruana Galizia. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina300-400g explosive in device
9.41am The court continues to hear evidence about the bomb used in the assassination. Cmarec estimates the device contained between 300 and 400 grams of explosive material.
'High' explosive
9.36am Prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini refers to the “expert opinion” section of the report.
Cmarec says investigators tried to determine the type of explosive used. He describes it as ‘high’ explosive, with greater destructive force than commercial explosives or pyrotetchnics used in fireworks.
It had a much stronger power to cause destruction and injuries, he says. He says several findings suggested TNT was involved. For example, there was extensive soot deposits on surrounding objects or items in contact with explosive charge.
TNT is a military-grade explosive.
Location of bomb
9.33am Cmarec tells the jurors that investigators could establish approximate location of the explosive charge despite the extensive damage.
Based on characteristic damage to the car's floor and the way metal fragments were bent outwards, Cmarec said the blast originated from inside the vehicle. Using a reconstruction model, investigators concluded the explosive device had been placed beneath the driver's seat.
Explaining report
9.30am Prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini asks Mario Cmarec to walk through the jurors through his report.
He said investigators collected mostly debris from the crime scene, which could be relevant to the case. He said the vehicle was later stored in a secure garage, where a detailed forensic examination was carried out.
Explaining the report's findings, Cmarec said the investigation sought to establish, among other things, where the explosive device had been placed. Referring to a trajectory diagram in the report, he said the car had been extensively damaged by both the explosion and the intense fire that followed, destroying or disintegrating much of the material that might have contained evidence linked to the explosive device.
Post-blast report
9.21am The Europol expert came to Malta in November 2017, a month after the car bomb. He was tasked with a post-blast investigation on the vehicle and all evidence from the crime scene.
He wrote a report: “Post-blast examination report. Vehicle explosion incident. Location: Bidnija, Malta".
Europol explosives expert first up
9.17am First up instead is Mario Cmarec, an explosives expert from Europol's anti-terrorism section. He is testifying via video link.
Confusion
9.14am We've been told the first witness is Lawrence Pace, known as il-Lolly. But there's a bit of confusion. The person at the witness stand doesn't look like Lawrence Pace. So he leaves.
The defence display stand
9.11am Throughout this case, the defence have been using a sort-of display stand. So far, it's beeen used to show the photograph of Keith Schembri and Melvin Theuma. Now there's also a screenshot of a text conversation. We can't see from our position what it says.
Proceedings begin
9.09am Judge Edwina Grima, who is presiding over this case, has entered the courtroom, so today's proceedings can now begin.
Chris Cardona responds
9.05am Earlier this week we heard convicted murderers George and Alfred Degiorgio, together with Vince Muscat, claim that former economy minister Chris Cardona was behind an aborted 2015 plot to murder Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Our journalist Jacob Borg approached him for comment. Here's what he had to say.
Good morning
8.40am Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the trial of Yorgen Fenech. We're expecting proceedings to begin at 9am and we'll bring you the latest updates throughout the day.
Thank you to the tens of thousands of readers who have been joining us every day since the trial began 15 days ago.