Recordings of phone conversations played in court

The prosecution in the case against four men charged with aiding and abetting in the bribery of two judges yesterday played about three hours of telephone conversations from a collection of over 20 hours of phone calls it claims took place between the four men on trial.

Police Commissioner John Rizzo said the tapes would help the prosecution prove its claim that Mario Camilleri directed his son Pierre to appoint Joseph Zammit to approach the judges for help. Zammit, in turn, involved Anthony Grech Sant.

The conversations drew a clear picture of what had happened before the appeal judgment reducing Camilleri's 16-year jail term by four years, on the day, and afterwards, Mr Rizzo said.

The commissioner also claimed the prosecution was not satisfied with Grech Sant's declaration that he was prepared to stick to his statement because the police believed he was letting Zammit shoulder Grech Sant's part in the matter and Zammit, for some reason, was taking on the burden.

The conversations, peppered with nicknames, swear words, names and telephone numbers, were played in open court before Magistrate Noel Cuschieri who is hearing the compilation of evidence against the four men - Mario Camilleri and his son Pierre, 40 and 20, Anthony Grech Sant, 55, and Joseph Zammit, 57.

They are pleading not guilty to trading in influence, aiding and abetting in the bribery of two judges and conspiring to commit a crime.

Zammit is also charged with defrauding Mario Camilleri and/or other people out of some Lm5,000 and a second count of trading in influence. Both are also charged with relapsing.

The recordings were quite clear but it was at times hard to decipher the phrasing used by the speakers and transcripts were not made available.

The prosecution is alleging the conversations were conducted between Camilleri and his son, Camilleri and Zammit, Camilleri and his mother, Camilleri and his wife, the son and Zammit, Zammit and Grech Sant, Camilleri and Grech Sant and Judge Patrick Vella and Zammit.

In a conversation allegedly between Camilleri and Zammit, Camilleri is heard exclaiming at the figure of Lm30,000 suggested by Zammit and calculating that with the Lm25,000 fine the whole thing was going to cost him Lm65,000.

Zammit is also heard telling Camilleri that Judge Noel Arrigo had suggested that he file "a human (rights) case, not a petition" which would be assigned to Judge Arrigo alone, and not three judges, and he would be able to take off another three or four years.

Zammit also told Camilleri that the judge could not take off much more from the appeal because of "the attorney general and Michael".

In another conversation, Zammit is heard asking Camilleri what he was going to do about paying off the judges and Camilleri asking what Zammit was talking about.

Zammit urged Camilleri to speak to his son because his son knew of the agreement and because he did not want to have any problems. Camilleri said Mallia wanted Lm10,000 and Zammit told him not to pay Mallia and that Noel had said so too.

Zammit told Camilleri he had warned his son he did not want to lose face and told him to call his son and call him back. Zammit also said the chief justice wanted Lm15,000 and the other judge wanted Lm10,000.

Zammit again urged Camilleri to call his son and told him he (Zammit) was not a little boy and his son would confirm what he was telling him.

Zammit told Camilleri there were three judges involved and Camilleri asked him why three, not two and Zammit told him it would be three with Filletti.

In another phone call, Zammit is heard telling Camilleri (at least according to the prosecution) to prepare a human rights case so that the judge would be alone and he could reduce the jail term further.

He also told Camilleri he had made arrangements with the three judges and asked Camilleri what George had told him. Camilleri said George had left.

Another recording of a conversation, allegedly between Grech Sant and Zammit, puts Zammit as telling Grech Sant they had a problem because only Lm5,000 had been sent and not Lm10,000.

Grech Sant told Zammit to make the arrangements himself because it was not on. He repeatedly told Zammit he had nothing to do with the matter and that if they had promised him 10, they should give him 10.

In a conversation apparently between Judge Vella and Zammit, the judge is heard telling Zammit that he was still in Mellieha and that he would be there at about 4.30 p.m. Zammit is heard telling the judge he would get the rest in three to four months and that the boy would be there. The judge told Zammit he did not want any people present and to call the boy and tell him not to come.

In a phone call seemingly between Zammit and Pierre Camilleri, Zammit is heard telling Camilleri to give Grech Sant Lm500 for a drink so that they would not lose face.

Pierre Camilleri allegedly called his father and related how he had stayed inside because someone (not identified) had told someone else (also not identified) that he did not want him present. Camilleri confirms that he saw everything and his father is heard asking him repeatedly whether he had gone and whether he had seen everything with his own eyes.

In a conversation allegedly with his mother, Mario Camilleri is heard saying he had paid a lot of money to "them" and she told him that nothing can be got for free. She also told him to be careful on the phone because she knew that he was the type to say what he had to say. She warned him not to open up to anyone.

Camilleri told her a doctor had gone to see him and he had told her he could not stay without drugs and the doctor had told him she would make arrangements so that he could spend his last two years in rehab. That would mean he could go home.

After the last of the conversations was played, Mr Rizzo, deputy commissioner Joseph Cachia, assistant commissioner Michael Cassar and Superintendent Pierre Calleja took the witness stand to say that they had all participated in the questioning of the four defendants and, following the lengthy conversations which had taken place, they were in a position to confirm that the voices heard on tape were those of the defendants.

Earlier, Magistrate Cuschieri heard Vincent Fenech who explained he had a car sale and rental company in partnership with his brother Gaetano and knew Mario and Pierre Camilleri because they had bought a Mercedes E-Class from their showroom. The sale was made to Mario Camilleri's mother.

About a month ago or so, Mario Camilleri had phoned for his brother but he had picked up the phone and spoken to him. Camilleri identified himself as Mario of Valletta and Fenech said he recognised him.

They exchanged a few words and Camilleri told him he had obtained a four-year reprieve and asked him to get rid of the car because it had cost him a bomb.

Fenech said the car had been at the showroom when the police eventually questioned him but it had since been sold.

Fenech said Camilleri told him he would send his son for the car because it was at the showroom and he knew that the son had come for it but he had not been there when he came.

A couple of days later, the car was returned. Fenech said he did not know what happened after that.

He was played a recording of a telephone conversation and he confirmed that the voices heard on tape were his and Camilleri's.

Fenech's brother Gaetano then took the witness stand and explained that Camilleri had bought two cars six years ago, a Mercedes E-Class diesel for Lm27,500 and a Peugeot 306 diesel for Lm4,500. The cars were sold to Maria Stella Camilleri.

Fenech said he had taken the Mercedes back eventually because Camilleri's son had come to sell it back and he gave him Lm10,000 for it and erased the Lm3,500 still owing on the Peugeot.

Fenech said Camilleri called him in June or July. He did not specify where he was calling from or why he needed the money. Fenech said he gave him Lm13,680 for the car, partly in bills of exchange.

In the afternoon, Joe Galea said he was the general manager and a director of N. Arrigo and Sons and had been working there for the last 12 years. He said he knew Zammit as a client and Grech Sant as a friend of the former chief justice.

Galea said the two had always come to the office to buy supplies.

On July 5, he was working in the morning till 12.30 p.m. and afterwards went on his boat. Saturday was not a working day at the office but he generally went in for two or three hours to do some work and the former chief justice would come to meet him.

On July 6, a Saturday, Judge Arrigo had come in as usual and they chatted for a while. The judge mentioned a particular case and told him how Zammit had come to offer him a gift after the appeal and he refused it but then Grech Sant had come in and he had taken the gift.

Galea said the judge had not specified which case he was talking about and he had linked the gift to the appeal because the conversation led from one to the other. The judge had simply told him that he had reduced the jail term by four years on appeal the day before but did not mention any names.

Galea said he had not been at the office when Grech Sant went and that it must have been an afternoon because the judge was usually at the office in the afternoon.

He said the judge had told him that the 'gift' was Lm1,500 in Lm20 notes and mentioned his concern that the notes could be traced and he wanted to spend them as quickly as possible. Galea said, however, that the judge never told him what he was going to do with the money.

Replying to a question by the police commissioner, Galea said he had gone abroad with the judge quite a few times, always on business, and that they talked about a lot of things.

He felt he was trusted and admitted the judge sometimes told him things he did not tell his own family.

About three weeks later, Judge Arrigo had told him that Grech Sant had been arrested by the police. He did not tell him how he knew but simply told him he was concerned because he could be involved. He was worried about Grech Sant and also feared he was being questioned about the same case, Galea said.

The judge was meant to go to Gozo and left but he called him a few times as he usually did. He thought the day was a Wednesday and the conversation took place at about 5.30 or 6 p.m.

Galea said the judge told him, in one of the ensuing telephone conversations, that he had learnt that Zammit was being questioned and declared that if the police questioned him he would say he did not take the money.

In another conversation, the judge told him he would be mentioning him (Galea) and he said he took it to mean that the judge wanted him to help him out.

Galea said the judge had not told him directly to say anything in particular but he had involved him once he had told him of the case.

He felt he had to protect the judge and the judge had indirectly asked for his help when he told him what Galea was going to tell police if questioned and that he was going to mention him. "I'm sure he didn't say that so that I would testify against him."

Galea also said that the judge had mentioned that he had been told that more money would be forthcoming but that he told "them" he did not want any more money.

He said he did not know Camilleri and the judge had never mentioned him but that he eventually learnt of him from the newspapers.

Galea said he had not spoken to Judge Arrigo since, although he had been to work regularly except for this week because he was on leave.

Under cross-examination, Galea said he had hardly ever spoken to Grech Sant in his life, had not spoken to him since July 6 and had not been approached on his behalf.

He also said that he had only seen Grech Sant at the office when he went to buy cigars and Zammit when he came to buy cigars for Grech Sant.

Stephen Agius said he was a court marshal and had been detailed with Judge Vella for the past nine or 10 years.

He said he knew Zammit because he had stopped the judge a couple of times to speak to him about matters related to the judge's mother's house. Judge Vella's mother died last year, Agius said, and Zammit had stopped the judge two or three times to talk to him about a grating near the door of the judge's mother's house and about some paper left by the meter reader.

More recently, he had been waiting for the judge near the Savoy Arcades and Zammit had come up to him and asked him if he was waiting for the judge because he wanted to speak to him.

Agius said he had chatted with Zammit about football until the judge arrived but Zammit had not made a move to speak to him. Agius said he had mentioned to the judge that Zammit had said he wanted to speak to him and Judge Vella had told him he did not want to speak to Zammit.

Another time, the judge had sent him on an errand and he had met Zammit who again told him he needed to speak to Judge Vella. Zammit asked him to pass on his mobile number to the judge and wrote it down for him on a piece of paper.

Agius said he had gone back to court and had gone in to see the judge and tried to give him Zammit's number but the judge had cut him short and told him to throw away the number and Agius said he had been taken aback because the judge nearly snapped at him.

A fourth occasion involved Zammit turning up at the court registry with someone else. Agius said it was usual practice for people who asked to see the judge to go through him.

He had gone to the registry's front desk and found Zammit asking for the judge and he told him he would go and tell the judge. Agius said he returned with the message that the judge could not see Zammit and Zammit left.

On July 5, a court employee had organised lunch for the staff at a restaurant in Mellieha and the judge had offered to give him a lift. Agius said the judge came in a blue Opel Vectra and drove himself to Mellieha and back.

They were at Cross Keys early, arriving at about 1.10 p.m. and by the time the first course was served it was about 2.30 p.m.

Agius said the judge did not want to stay too long because he had some errands to run and was going abroad the next day. He had in fact asked him to ask the waiter to bring their dessert before everyone else's and they left after they had finished it.

He said they were gone by 4.20 p.m. or so because he had arrived home at about 4.45 p.m.

Renato Zampa said he worked with his father in a shop in Valletta and knew Grech Sant and Zammit in Valletta.

Grech Sant had a shop in Valletta opposite theirs and his son, who was also called Anthony, had told him his father had been arrested the same day the police had gone for him.

Zampa said that he had later met Alan Bonnici, the former chief justice's driver, and had told him the news.

Zampa said he did not remember telling Bonnici that Zammit and 'Drubi' had been arrested but he must have told him because Bonnici had later told him that he had.

Zampa said he had learnt of the arrests because it was the talk of Republic Street but he did not know which Drubi had been arrested.

Mario Vella, the director of Cross Keys Bar and Restaurant, said he had opened the restaurant specifically for a meal organised by the court staff.

He recognised some people at the meal including Judge Vella. He had also noticed that the judge had left the table to make a phone call and that he and his driver had left earlier than the rest.

Alan Bonnici said he had been the driver of three successive chief justices, the latest of which had been Judge Arrigo. He said he knew Zammit in Valletta and remarked that everyone knew him.

Bonnici said the former chief justice and Grech Sant were very good friends and he had known when Grech Sant was arrested because Zampa had told him to tell the chief justice.

He had passed on the information to the chief justice who had not commented about it. Judge Arrigo later asked him if Grech Sant was the only one arrested and he called Zampa to ask him who else had been arrested.

Zampa told him he had heard about 'Drubi' and a man with white hair and Bonnici said he passed on the information to the chief justice.

Bonnici denied, when questioned, that Judge Arrigo had ever spoken to him about the case, not even when he drove him to police headquarters to be questioned by the police commissioner.

He also denied that the judge took a phone call in the car on the way to headquarters.

Bonnici's evidence was suspended at this point.

Before calling it a day, Magistrate Cuschieri heard submissions on bail by the defence and in part by the prosecution. He said he would give a ruling on bail today after hearing more witnesses.

The case continues this morning.

Attorney General Anthony Borg Barthet is leading the team of prosecutors with police commissioner John Rizzo, deputy commissioner Joseph Cachia, assistant commissioner Michael Cassar and Superintendent Pierre Calleja.

Dr Joseph Brincat is appearing for Grech Sant, Dr Chris Cardona for Zammit and Dr Franco Debono for the Camilleris.