Convicted killers Alfred and George Degiorgio have claimed that the money commissioning Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination was to be collected “from a prominent government office in Valletta”.
It is their latest bid to get the authorities to act upon the information they claim to be able to supply about the involvement of various politicians and high-profile figures, not only linked to the journalist’s murder but also other serious crimes.
In an immediate reaction to their statement, the Caruana Galizia family said that during the compilation of evidence, it was shown that Yorgen Fenech was passing on money to the Degiorgio family via self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma.
The Degiorgio brothers are currently serving a 40-year jail term each over their involvement as hitmen in the car bomb explosion that killed Caruana Galizia metres away from her Bidnija home in October 2017.
In a statement released through their lawyers on Saturday, the two brothers claimed they had provided “important, relevant and true” information to the police about certain “hot cases” but that information was never followed up.
Those cases included bombings and murders that involved politicians "other than" former ministers Carmelo Abela and Chris Cardona who “issued instructions for the HSBC Head Office heist.” Both former ministers have denied the claims.
The brothers went on to say that certain members of the police corps, lawyers and also persons occupying important posts were also involved.
Focusing on the Caruana Galizia murder, the Degiorgios aimed their guns against two important players in the plot, namely, Theuma and their former co-accused, Vincent Muscat, known as il-Koħħu.
Muscat had previously been charged as the third hitman in the car bomb murder but was sentenced to a 15-year jail term after changing his plea to guilty in 2021, as part of a plea bargain deal with prosecutors where he agreed to provide information about the killing.
Muscat was also granted a presidential pardon in exchange for information on the 2015 fatal shooting of lawyer Carmel Chircop.
His former partners in crime are again claiming that as far as they are concerned, Muscat “told one lie after another”.
Before the three were arrested in December 2017, Muscat used to speak about the Caruana Galizia murder case with which he was personally familiar.
But his version back then “was very different to what he told police in his statements and what emerged in the media”, the brothers said.
Charges against the Degiorgios were pinned upon Muscat's allegations but they could “confirm and substantiate” that he lied.
They added that il-Koħħu had spun a “colourful tale” made up of lies as far as the brothers’ involvement was concerned.
They had never received any money from Yorgen Fenech, read the statement, referring to the businessman currently awaiting trial in connection with the Caruana Galizia murder.
“We never knew this person existed until the arrests.”
Theuma too used to speak among his circle of friends about his own involvement in the journalist’s murder.
The Degiorgios knew about this both from “those who gave [them] this information” and also from “high-ranking officers at the police depot”.
At the time of the murder, Theuma named various persons who, for some unknown reason, were never even investigated.
Theuma did not name Fenech as one of those involved in the crime by the time of the arrests and the start of compilation proceedings against the Degiorgios themselves.
Following their arrest, the brothers lost contact with Theuma.
Thanks to that narrative, Theuma was granted a pardon which spared him prosecution over at least two criminal cases and also secured protection for his family, the Degiorgios said.
They said Muscat was not telling the truth and his pardon was not only unjustified but ought to be withdrawn.
As for Theuma, he had never named Fenech to the Degiorgios but had always spoken about “a prominent government official who had an office in Valletta.”
And the funds for the murder were to be collected from sources “at a prominent government office in Valletta, as Theuma himself always told us,” stated the Degiorgios, expressing hope that the authorities would “send for them as soon as possible.”
“We’ve shouldered [our responsibility.] Now others must do likewise.”
The Degiorgios were assisted by lawyers Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri in releasing their statement.
In a reaction on Saturday, the Caruana Galizia family said: "Yorgen Fenech asked for a presidential pardon for Daphne's murder. An innocent man does not ask to be pardoned for murder.
"During the compilation of evidence, it was shown that Yorgen Fenech was passing on money to the Degiorgio family via self-confessed middleman, Melvin Theuma. Theuma testified under oath that he never mentioned Fenech’s name to the Degiorgios.”