Wrap: Theuma said Fenech hired him to pay Daphne’s killers, associate testifies
Johann Cremona says Melvin Theuma ruined his life
Updated 6.30pm
A business associate of Yorgen Fenech’s told jurors on Tuesday that murder middleman Melvin Theuma repeatedly told him that Fenech had engaged him to pay hitmen to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Johann Cremona faced hours of pointed questions from the prosecution about his financial ties to Fenech, conversations with Theuma and inconsistencies in his own evidence.
Asked directly who gave the order to kill Caruana Galizia, Cremona told the court: "He (Theuma) said Yorgen."
Cremona recalled Theuma coming to him and saying “Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri betrayed me” but said that by 2019 Theuma was "putting everything on Yorgen Fenech," repeatedly pressing Cremona for updates on the police investigation.
Cremona was testifying in the case against Fenech, a prominent businessman who stands accused of complicity in Caruana Galizia's October 2017 murder. He is pleading not guilty.
Cremona testified that Theuma told him he'd paid a €30,000 deposit to the Degiorgio brothers for the murder, and that Fenech instructed Theuma to put everything on hold once the 2017 election was called, corroborating testimony given by another one of the hitmen, Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu.
Meeting Schembri at Castille
He said his first direct contact with Keith Schembri came in September 2019, when Schembri summoned him to Castille and asked whether Fenech had been in touch, telling him to report back if Fenech made contact.
The two kept in touch by Signal afterwards, with Schembri repeatedly asking after Fenech.
Cremona said he had told Fenech that Schembri was asking about him. Cremona said Fenech told him to ignore Schembri’s request.
He confirmed that he accompanied Kenneth Camilleri, a former official at the Office of the Prime Minister where Schembri was chief of staff, to meet with Theuma. Camilleri and Theuma appeared to be discussing securing bail for the Degiorgio brother hitmen, he said.
Fenech's photo of 'two men'
Cremona and Fenech were business partners in a gaming company and spoke daily about work-related matters. The two never discussed the murder case, he testified, except for one day when Fenech sent him a photo of two men “out of the blue”.
He said the photo was of former minister Chris Cardona and one of his associates, known as Toni l-Biglee. Fenech, he said, told him that Biglee was the middleman between Cardona and the Degiorgio brothers.
Earlier in the case, the murder hitmen testified that Cardona was behind an earlier plot to kill Caruana Galizia that was not followed through.
Cremona also claimed that Theuma had told him that the Degiorgio brothers were demanding €400,000 from Cardona ahead of their trial by jury, threatening to expose him if he refused.
Under cross-examination, Cremona was pressed on why he had never previously mentioned Cardona and why his account of the photo had changed. In previous testimony, Cremona had claimed the photo Fenech sent him only showed Toni l-Biglee.
"I was never asked," he said, denying he'd been prompted by someone to mention Cardona. "I'm not here to do anyone any favours."
Theuma 'ruined my life'
Cremona acknowledged that Fenech had personally helped bail out his gaming business in 2014 and had paid for his father's chemotherapy treatment. Asked whether this had influenced his testimony, Cremona did not directly answer, saying only that "Yorgen helped the company, not me."
He expressed anger about Theuma, who secretly recorded him and whose recordings had led to years of investigations into Cremona’s affairs.
“He ruined my life,” Cremona said of Theuma. “Yorgen wasn’t the one who sent me to calm Melvin.”
When asked who had, he did not reply.
Theuma's recordings of Cremona
Some of those secret recordings were played in court.
Though largely inaudible to reporters in the courtroom, the recordings indicated Cremona and Theuma discussed an upcoming police raid, Cremona reassuring Theuma that the FIAU were after Fenech, not him, and telling him that “with Raymond, you will not have any problems.”
Cremona confirmed that 'Raymond' was former superintendent Raymond Aquilina. He provided little information about the other things he mentioned in the recordings, telling prosecutors he could not recall details.
Late in the session, Cremona grew visibly frustrated, telling the court Theuma had "badgered me constantly, from morning to 11pm at night," and that he'd tried to keep Theuma calm because he feared what Theuma might reveal otherwise.
"I knew if I didn't keep him under control, he would expose everything,” he said.
Cremona’s testimony will continue on Wednesday.
As it happened
Court hearing ends
6.03pm The judge calls and end to today’s court hearing. Jurors file out of the courtroom.
This live blog will end here. We’ll have a wrap-up of today’s key points of testimony available at the top of this article soon.
We’ll be back again tomorrow morning.
'I would tell him what he needed to hear'
6.02pm In this recording, there is a reference to a “KK” Cremona tells the prosecution that’s a reference to Keith Schembri.
There are more references to “Raymond”.
Cremona says he would mention Raymond because he wanted to reassure Melvin that everything would be OK.
“I would tell him what he needed to hear,” he says of Theuma.
'If I didn't keep him under control, he'd expose everything'
5.51pm The prosecution says it will now refer to another recording.
But before it can do so, the witness has an outburst.
Melvin, he says, “badgered me constantly, from the morning to 11pm at night... I knew if I didn’t keep him under control he would expose everything.”
Cremona's memory falters
5.44pm In another part of the call, one man tells the other: “If I make a move, I will go to a magistrate and request a pardon. [Jekk ħa nagħmel pass, ħa niġi quddiem il-maġistrata, ngħidilha għal proklama]
Cremona, again, says he does not know what this was about.
Azzopardi and Satabank
5.40pm In another part of the call, Cremona makes references to “Arthur” and Satabank.
Cremona says there were media reports about payments made by Arthur Azzopardi via the now-defunct Satabank.
'If Yorgen falls, people will be stunned'
5.36pm At one point in the recorded conversation, Cremona tells Theuma "If Yorgen falls, people will be stunned." [Jekk jaqa' Yorgen ikun hemm stagħġib].
Cremona tells prosecutors he can't recall the context of the quote.
Cremona insists he was just calming Theuma
5.30pm At one point in the recording, Cremona reassures Theuma that the FIAU’s focus is on Yorgen Fenech, not himself.
The prosecution challenges Cremona about this. Cremona says he was just trying to calm Melvin.
Then he adds: “I am going to keep repeating this [that he was simply inventing stories to calm Melvin] in all the recordings you ask me about”.
Theuma was “fixated” with Fenech, Cremona says. “Whenever something went wrong, it was Yorgen’s fault.”
'With Raymond, you won't have problems'
5.12pm At one stage in the recording, the two appear to be discussing an upcoming money laundering raid.
Theuma can be heard in the recoding asking if they will search “at Charmaine’s”.
Cremona tells Theuma “remove everything from there”. He then says “with Raymond, you will not have any problems”.
Cremona confirms to the prosecution that Charmaine is Melvin’s partner.
At another stage in the recording, Cremona refers to “Arthur doing damage to Melvin”.
He is asked about that by the prosecution. Cremona says Arthur was Kohhu’s lawyer at the time.
[The lawyer is Arthur Azzopardi, who represented Kohhu in pardon talks. Kohhu testified that Azzopardi had advised him to pin everything on Theuma. He said Azzopardi was being threatened and was fearing for his safety].
The prosecution asks Cremona about a reference he made in the recorded conversation to a “mastermind”. Who is the mastermind?
Cremona: I have no idea.
'Deleting' recordings
4.47pm Cremona first says a reference to 'deleting' recordings was him asking Theuma to delete recordings he made of him.
Then the witness changes tack: he was asking Melvin to delete recordings he made of Yorgen, he says.
Cremona mentioned Ray Aquilina to Theuma
4.35pm In one recording, Cremona can be heard telling Theuma "the FIAU want to know what you're doing, this has nothing to do with the other case".
Cremona reassures Theuma that "the commissioner doesn't know"
Then Cremona tells Theuma: "Don't pay attention to what Yorgen tells you,".
There is also a reference to a "Raymond."
[That's Ray Aquilina, a former police superintendent facing bribery charges.]
The judge asks Cremona how he knew Aquilina. Cremona says "through gaming."
Lots of swearing
4.23pm A recording is played. It is impossible for us to make out what is being said, save for the odd swear word in Maltese.
At one point, Theuma can be heard mentioning “6,000”, followed by an expletive.
Cremona confirms he was referring to Yorgen Fenech in the recording. He says he does not know when it was recorded.
Recordings played in court
4pm Recordings that Theuma made of himself speaking to Cremona are played in court. As is the norm, it is exceedingly hard for journalists seated in the gallery to make out what is being said in them.
Cremona tells the court he thinks Theuma was hiding the recording device in his shoe “because you can hear footsteps”.
There’s a bit of a delay as the prosecution is struggling to find the right recording to play.
Cremona: 'Yorgen helped with my father's chemo'
3.45pm The prosecution notes that Cremona previously said he was angry at Melvin Theuma.
“I was angry I was recorded without my consent,” Cremona says. “Yorgen didn’t get me into this. He didn’t tell me to hold Melvin’s hand.”
Prosecution: “So Yorgen helped you, and you were angry at Melvin. Did this have any impact on the way you’ve testified?”
Cremona avoids the question. “Yorgen helped the company, not me. And he helped with my father’s chemotherapy.”
Fenech bailed Cremona out
3.42pm Cremona is asked if he considered himself a friend of Yorgen Fenech’s.
“He was on a higher level than me,” Cremona says. “Friends are people you call and go out for a meal with. It wasn’t like that.”
Cremona acknowledges that Fenech helped him out.
“In 2014 I was in debt, I couldn’t put more money into it. He told me not to worry, that he’d speak to the group [Tumas] and they’d pump more money into it.”
'Why are you mentioning Cardona now?'
3.35pm Cremona says Cardona was also in the photo.
When prosecutors ask why he never mentioned Cardona before, Cremona says “I was never asked.”
The prosecution presses him. Why is he only mentioning Chris Cardona in Yorgen Fenech’s trial?
Cremona: “No reason at all. I am putting my life in danger…”
Did someone jog his memory about Cardona, the prosecution asks.
Cremona insists: “I’m not here to do anyone any favours.”
An incongruence?
3.31pm The prosecution notes that when Cremona mentioned this photo in previous testimony, he claimed there was just one man in the photo. Now he is saying there were two.
'Yorgen told me Biglee was Cardona's middleman'
3.27pm Cremona says Fenech once sent him a photo of two men and told him one of them was “the middleman between Chris Cardona and the Degiorgio brothers.”
Cremona is hazy on the man’s name – he was called “Biglee or something”, he says.
[Toni l-Biglee is an associate of Cardona’s].
Cremona says the message and photo came “out of the blue”. It was the first time Fenech had broached the subject with him, he says.
Theuma told Cremona he paid murder deposit
3.20pm Cremona says Melvin Theuma told him that he had paid a €30,000 deposit for the murder to the Degiorgio brothers. Then after an election was announced, Yorgen Fenech instructed him [Theuma] to put everything on hold.
[That tallies with what Vince Muscat il-Koħħu, the third hitman, testified in the trial.]
Hearing resumes
3.08pm Jurors are back in their place. The judge resumes the court hearing.
Break for lunch
1.03pm The judge halts the court session for lunch.The hearing will resume at 3pm.
Asking Fenech for money
1pm Cremona says Theuma would tell him that he was going to ask Yorgen Fenech for the money he (Theuma) was relaying to the Degiorgios.
The prosecution tells him that he previously testified that Theuma also said he intended to demand money from Keith Schembri, via Kenneth Camilleri.
Cremona says he doesn’t recall that.
'Degiorgios wanted €400k for their trial'
12.57pm Theuma told Cremona that the Degiorgio brothers demanded €400,000 from [former minister] Chris Cardona for their trial, Cremona says. They threatened to expose him if he did not pay.
The prosecution asks why they wanted that money. Was it to testify in a certain way?
Cremona: “He told me it was for the [Degiorgio] jury”.
Amended at 1.13pm
'Yorgen didn't get me into this'
12.47pm Cremona appears to be getting emotional.
"He didn't need to [record me]," he says of Theuma. "It is not Yorgen Fenech who got me into all this. He wasn't the one who asked me to keep Melvin calm.”
Prosecutors ask: Who asked him to keep Melvin calm?
Cremona does not give a clear reply. “I was worried about the business,” he says.
Theuma 'ruined my life'
12.44pm Cremona reflects on his conversations with Theuma [which Theuma recorded]. He says he thinks Theuma “cherry picked” which recordings of their conversations he kept and which he deleted.
“If Melvin said something and you disagreed with him… he could choose which recordings to use,” he says.
Is he angry Theuma recorded him?
“Obviously. I used to listen to him every day. He ruined my life.”
Theuma and his pardon
12.33pm Questions turn to Melvin Theuma’s pardon.
Cremona: Melvin told me that he spoke to Gojja, and Gojja spoke to the commissioner. And that he could get a pardon.
[Cutajar testified that he never discussed Theuma’s pardon and played a peripheral role in it].
Texting Yorgen about Keith
12.30pm Cremona says that “weeks” after that Castille meeting, he texted Yorgen and told him Keith Schembri wanted to speak to him.
“Yorgen told me ‘don’t take any notice of him’,” Cremona recalls.
Cremona says he and Schembri maintained contact.
Schembri would ask after Yorgen, but then suddenly “he stopped speaking about Yorgen. I assumed it was because they were back in direct contact.”
Schembri 'worried about Yorgen' in September 2019
12.25pm Cremona says his first interaction with Keith Schembri was in September 2019, when Schembri summoned him to Castille.
“First we spoke about gaming. Then the conversation turned to Yorgen. He asked if Yorgen had spoken to me lately. Keith seemed worried about him. He told me to let him know if Yorgen spoke to me.”
Prosecution: Why did Keith Schembri ask you about Yorgen?
Cremona: Maybe he knew I was his business partner.
After that meeting, the two men would exchange text messages using [encrypted messaging app] Signal. “He would ask me about Yorgen,” Cremona says.
[Times of Malta revealed a businessman was a prime suspect in the murder on October 9, 2019. Fenech was arrested in November].
'He said Yorgen got information from Keith'
12.15pm Cremona: Melvin told me that Yorgen and Keith were good friends. He said Yorgen got information from Keith, and he [Melvin Theuma] got information from Il-Ġojja via the police commissioner [Cutajar].
The prosecution asks Cremona how Schembri factored into Theuma’s sense of betrayal.
But Cremona again recounts the incident when Theuma called him, asked for Kenneth Camilleri’s phone number and the three met in Valletta.
“Melvin believed Keith sent Kenneth,” the witness says, adding that Theuma was insistent on getting bail for the Degiorgios.
He is pressed on why Theuma would say both Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri betrayed him.
“I don’t know,” Cremona replies.
Cremona and Fenech's Signal call
12.02pm Cremona says he “never” spoke to Yorgen Fenech about the case. The prosecution reads from his previous testimony.
In it, Cremona said he spoke to Fenech “at the very end” after Times of Malta revealed that a businessman was a prime suspect in the case.
Cremona confirms he called Fenech on Signal. He says he “does not remember” what they discussed.
The story that prompted Cremona to call Fenech.Theuma, Cutajar and the recordings
11.57am Theuma was aware that the police commissioner knew about his recordings, Cremona says.
Cremona texted Fenech about Theuma tapes
11.52am The prosecution asks about Theuma’s recordings. Theuma had told him that he was recording Yorgen Fenech, Cremona says. He doesn’t know why.
Prosecutor: You texted Yorgen to warn him that Melvin was recording him. When did that happen?
Cremona confirms he texted Fenech on Signal. He says he can’t remember when that way. Fenech never replied.
Theuma mentioned ex-police chief
11.45am Cremona says Theuma used to confide in him, and Edgar Brincat il-Ġojja. He thinks Theuma and Brincat would talk about “the ex commissioner” [Lawrence Cutajar]. He confirms that Theuma said he had contact with Cutajar through Brincat.
[Cutajar testified yesterday that he did not know Theuma and that it was impossible that Theuma asked for him when he was arrested]
Court hearing resumes
11.37am The judge and jury return to the courtroom. The case can resume.
Break
11.20am The judge has ordered a short break - we've been hearing the testimony of Johann Cremona, and his relationship with Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
A news report
11.15pm Cremona recalls a news report about a person who had allegedly been caught with diesel in Sicily and was subsequently named in a report on ONE as being potentially involved in Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder.
He says he mentioned the report to Melvin Theuma directly.
Asked whether the story was true or false, Cremona says he would sometimes mention names to calm Theuma down when he was anxious.
The prosecution asks whether Cremona ever told the police or the inquiring magistrate about this particular story - and, if not, why not.
Cremona says that if he did not previously mention the news report, it was because his testimony during the compilation of evidence was interrupted by the playing of recordings.
Theuma feared he would be killed
11am Cremona says Melvin Theuma would mention other people he said were involved and appeared to feel safe confiding in him.
As media coverage of the murder investigation intensified, Theuma became increasingly worried and felt the spotlight was on him, Cremona says.
Theuma feared that “they would get rid of me”, which Cremona understood to mean that he would be killed.
Cremona describes it as a fixation Theuma had, but says Theuma did not identify who he believed might kill him.
'Order came from Fenech'
10.40am The prosecution repeats Cremona’s evidence: when Melvin Theuma began talking about money for the Degiorgio brothers, he was mentioning Yorgen Fenech, and Theuma had told Cremona that the order for the murder came from Fenech.
Asked what Theuma was like when speaking about Fenech, Cremona says his mood varied.
Sometimes he appeared calm, he says, while at other times he seemed desperate.
Money for the Degiorgios
10.35am Cremona says Melvin Theuma began visiting him at his garage in June 2018, at one point coming almost every day.
He cannot recall how long it was before Theuma began talking about money for the Degiorgio brothers.
Asked who Theuma was mentioning at the time the money came up, Cremona says Theuma complained that he could not get through to Yorgen Fenech.
The prosecution seeks clarification: when Theuma spoke about money for the Degiorgios, was he mentioning Fenech alone?
Cremona agrees.
Keith and Yorgen
10.30am Cremona says Melvin Theuma initially spoke to him about the Degiorgio brothers and later began mentioning Yorgen Fenech.
Asked by the prosecution who Theuma acted as a middleman for, Cremona says Theuma initially mentioned Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri - and later mentioned only Fenech.
The prosecution points out that throughout his statements, Cremona had consistently said that Theuma identified Fenech as the person who gave the order for the murder.
Cremona says that by 2019, Theuma was “putting everything on Yorgen Fenech” and repeatedly asking him for information about what was happening with the police investigation.
Money for the Degiorgios
10.10am Prosecutors turn to who Melvin Theuma allegedly said had ordered Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, reading parts of Cremona's previous statements to clarify his evidence.
Cremona says Theuma told him it was Yorgen Fenech who had given the order for the murder.
Questioned about money intended for the Degiorgio brothers, Cremona says Theuma would tell him he was going to call Fenech to get the money.
The money, he says, was for the Degiorgios.
'Who gave the order to kill Daphne?'
10.02am Prosecutors ask if Theuma was always consistent.
Cremona says yes.
Did he say who gave the order to kill Daphne?
Cremona: "He said Yorgen."
Cremona recalls a conversation in which €30,000 was mentioned as a deposit.
“And now I’m supposed to swallow it?” he recalls being said.
Asked whether this was before or after the election, Cremona says it was before the election.
Asked what happened to the money, he replies that it was a deposit.
"Theuma said 'Yorgen and Keith betrayed me'"
9.55am Cremona recalls Theuma coming to his garage. "He did not look very well, he looked like a different person," he says.
Cremona says he asked Theuma what was wrong.
"They betrayed me," Theuma told him. "Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri betrayed me."
'Tell them to sort bail'
9.52am Cremona says that after the three men met at a cafeteria near Castille, Theuma and Camilleri walked off together.
He recalls overhearing Theuma tell Camilleri: “See what you can do and tell them to sort out bail for the Degiorgio brothers.”
Cremona says he suspected Theuma was asking Camilleri to relay a message to other people. The three then went their separate ways.
Asked about the timing, Cremona says Theuma reached Valletta within around 10 minutes of their phone call, while Camilleri came down from his office at Castille, where he worked as security in the office of the prime minister.
Theuma seeks out Camilleri
9.48am Cremona says he did not hear what was said during the argument between Kenneth Camilleri and Melvin Theuma, apart from swearing.
He says he suspected that Theuma had not got what he wanted, given his angry reaction.
Later that day, while Cremona was in Valletta, Theuma called to say he was outside Cremona’s Qormi office. Minutes later, Cremona unexpectedly encountered him in Valletta, where Theuma asked for Camilleri's mobile number.
Cremona called Camilleri, who said he was at Castille. The three men then met at a cafeteria near Castille.
Melvin Theuma walking outside court.An argument
9.45am Cremona says that at the time he had no idea why Kenneth Camilleri wanted to speak to Melvin Theuma, although he now knows the reason.
Asked whether Camilleri told him anything during their drive back, Cremona says he did not want to tell him.
The following morning, Cremona found Camilleri waiting outside his Qormi office. The two went inside for coffee and, around half an hour later, Theuma arrived asking for Camilleri.
Camilleri and Theuma then moved to the coffee area to speak privately.
Cremona says he noticed an argument developing between the two men, heard some swearing and then saw Theuma leave the office.
Meeting Theuma
9.35am Cremona says that around May or June, Kenneth Camilleri called him and asked to meet in Bulebel, close to Camilleri’s home.
Cremona says Camilleri, whom he knew as a friend of his father from his time in the traffic police, told him he needed to speak to him. Camilleri got into Cremona’s car and asked to be driven to Melvin Theuma.
At around 8pm or 9pm, while on their way, Cremona called Theuma and told him that someone wanted to speak to him, without revealing who it was.
Theuma sent Cremona his home address and, when they arrived, came out of the residence alone, the court hears.
How Cremona knew Theuma
9.30am Cremona says he first got to know Melvin Theuma around 2014 or 2015, when his business took over an office in Qormi.
Theuma would visit every three months to collect a cheque for the rent, he says.
Asked by the prosecution what sort of relationship he had with Theuma, Cremona describes it as a normal one.
Johann Cremona testifies
9.14am Johann Cremona takes the witness stand.
Cremona is a business associate of Yorgen Fenech's - he tells the court he and Fenech jointly owned a gaming company at Portomaso.
Court in session
9am The judge and jury are in court. Tuesday's hearing can begin.
What happened yesterday
8.45am Monday's court session saw Edgar Brincat wrap up his testimony under some tough questioning from Fenech's defence lawyers.
Then former police chief Lawrence Cutajar took the witness stand. Across several hours of testimony, Cutajar argued that he deserved "some merit" for having solved the murder case and claimed his work was crucial in securing Melvin Theuma's arrest.
The former commissioner was less loquacious when made to answer questions about his interactions with Edgar Brincat, Johann Cremona or his role in granting Theuma a pardon.
Read our report of Monday's hearing here.
Welcome
8.35am Good morning and welcome to this live blog. We're back in the Valletta law courts.
Today's session is due to begin at 9am.