Murder suspect Yorgen Fenech has asked the court to reduce to €2.1 million the garnishee order issued last year to secure a claim for damages by the heirs of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Through his lawyer, Anna Mallia, the businessman requested the reduction of the garnishee, saying the family’s request was “arbitrary” and “unjustifiable”. 

The request was filed in the acts of an action filed by the husband and sons of Caruana Galizia for moral and material damages against the businessman, alleged hitmen George and Alfred Degiorgio, self-confessed hitman Vincent Muscat, as well as middleman Melvin Theuma, over their roles in the October 2017 car bomb that killed the journalist.

A garnishee order is a court order to secure a debt by having the amount 'frozen' in a bank account.

The garnishee order issued against Theuma was subsequently withdrawn by the family who accepted alternative security in the form of a warrant of prohibitory injunction, targeting a list of immovable properties owned by the middleman. 

In his application, Fenech argued that the precautionary warrant was not only excessive but also unjustified, calling on the court to stop it. However, this bid was shot down so he is now asking for its reduction as well as to be granted access to the journalist’s financial records. 

Fenech argued that to effectively determine the magnitude of damage suffered, the court would have to conduct a detailed assessment which clearly fell far beyond what was expected of the court in these proceedings.

He said that, in a separate garnishee against Theuma, the court had ruled that damages over a projected 10-year period until the victim was expected to reach retirement age, added to expenses related to lawsuits and loss of work by the heirs following her death, would amount to €2.1 million.

Fenech asked the court to reduce the amount and demand a breakdown from the Caruana Galizia family on their workings. 

In Theuma’s garnishee court case, the family provided a breakdown of the victim’s earnings: she was paid €200 for her weekly column in The Malta Independent, amounting to €20,800 for all 104 articles every year. They said income from her magazine, Taste & Flair, depended on advertising revenue. The €144,748 in 2008 dropped to €101,990 in 2012. Her widely-followed Running Commentary blog generated just over €4,000 monthly.

The heirs said that based on these figures, by the time she was 73-years-old, Caruana Galizia would have made over €5 million, hence their request. They also said they were forking out a lot of money in court expenses.

The case continues next month. 

Lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel is representing the Caruana Galizia family.