Yorgen Fenech associate Johann Cremona, who was mentioned several times in the secret recordings taken by middleman Melvin Theuma, testified on Monday in the compilation of evidence of the Daphne Caruana Galizia case, saying that Melvin Theuma said that Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech betrayed him.

Cremona is a director of gaming company Bestplay and Oracle Gaming, which was part of Fenech’s Tumas Group business empire, but was also a close confidante of Theuma’s.

The middleman in fact told the court several times of his visits to Cremona to confide in him.

Cremona testifies after the painstaking process of hearing Melvin Theuma’s secret recordings came to a close in a marathons six-hour sitting last Thursday.

Kenneth Camilleri, Keith Schembri, and family doctor Adrian Vella, are also expected to testify in the coming days and weeks, before the defence will cross-examine Theuma.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello is hearing the compilation of evidence against Fenech.

Fenech’s defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, Gianluca Caruana Curran, and Charles Mercieca.

The prosecution is being led by inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra, assisted by the Attorney General.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family.

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After an incredible nine hours, that brings today's sitting to an end. 

7.05pm: The court rules that it had already informally asked the prosecution whether the allegations in Theuma's testimony were being formally investigated, when the prosecution replied in the affirmative. Therefore, the court is, at this stage, ordering the Acting Police Commissioner to formally investigate Lawrence Cutajar.

7pm: Jason Azzopardi is making a final appeal to Magistrate Montebello - whether the court can consider formally ordering the police to take criminal steps or carry out criminal investigations against Lawrence Cutajar for a breach of two points of the criminal code and 10 points of the police act.Arnaud says that there is an internal investigation going on within the police on these points and leaks on the case.

6.57pm: The defence still has some questions, but - just before the sitting goes into its ninth hour - they ask to suspend the sitting for today. The prosecution will decide on the two witnesses for next Thursday's sitting.

6.53pm: "Theuma had told me that Schembri sorted out the job. He never said why he lost the job or why he got the job," Brincat says.

6.50pm: Camilleri asks now about a letter which Theuma wrote implicating Schembri and Fenech, Brincat said that Theuma had never told him anything about it. She asks about meetings between Theuma and Keith Schembri. Brincat says that the only meeting was related to the government job he had been "given". He understood this in the sense that the job was given to him not through any process. He says that Theuma had told him the he had gotten the job because Fenech had spoken to Schembri for it.

6.43pm: Camilleri turns to Lawrence Cutajar - Brincat admits that when he had met Cutajar over his traffic fine, Cutajar had told him that Theuma was involved in a "hot case" which the Commissioner had then said was the Daphne Caruana Galizia case. Brincat cannot remember when it was but knows it was just before his court case in 2019. "Try and pick his brains" was what the Commissioner had told Brincat in reference to Theuma. He said that he thinks that Cutajar knew that the two were friends because they used to be together at the Marsa Racecourse, where Cutajar used to work every Sunday in uniform around 15 years ago.

Brincat states that Cutajar had asked him whether he was still friends with Theuma.  Camilleri asks whether anything with regards to Melvin Theuma or his recordings in the media was mentioned.  Brincat says that he doesn't remember. Camilleri rephrases and asks who had mentioned the recordings. He says that Theuma had mentioned to them first, and then Cutajar had told him about them. "What if I told you Cutajar was intentionally leaking information?" Camilleri asks. "Not at all," Brincat replies.

6.36pm: Questions are asked over Theuma's money laundering case - Brincat confirms that Theuma knew he was going to get arrested and that he knew about the money laundering case against him.

6.28pm: "He got the idea of the pardon because Fenech told him that Vince Muscat was trying to get one," Brincat continues. Camilleri asks whether Theuma had ever mentioned who had advised him to start recording conversations, to which Brincat recalls that it was Theuma's daughter who had given him this idea

6.24pm: Camilleri points out that Brincat is mentioning a pardon a lot, and asks whether anyone had ever mentioned getting a pardon from himself. He clarifies that he used to get this idea everytime he sees in the newspapers that someone in the case may have asked for a pardon and used to ask him for advice. Brincat states that he used to tell him not to get a pardon because he didn't think he would manage.

6.20pm: Marion Camilleri's first question is whether he considered his relationship with Theuma as close. Brincat agrees.  Questions turn to Johann Cremona. Brincat says he heard of Johann Cremona after he set up the meeting between Theuma and Kenneth Camilleri, and that he knew about the Degiorgio's bail issue and also about the meetings Theuma had with Mario Degiorgio.

6.15pm:  Magistrate Montebello returns. Marion Camilleri begins the cross-examination for the defence.  We are into the final steps of today's sitting.

6.03pm: Azzopardi concludes his questioning. The defence has asked for a five minute recess to speak to their client before carrying out their cross examination.

6pm: The discussion now centres on the involvement of Europol in the case. Brincat says that he and Theuma had mentioned Europol in connection with the investigations. We are now into the eighth hour of this sitting. It has been ongoing since 10 o clock this morning.

5.58pm: Azzopardi asks whether he had Cutajar's phone number, to which Brincat replied that he had due to his work at Marsa. Azzopardi therefore asks whether Brincat had phoned Cutajar before going to his house to discuss his traffic fine, to which Brincat replied that he did. "And what did Cutajar tell you?", Azzopardi asks - "He told me to come", Brincat replies.

5.54pm: Brincat testifies that Theuma had never told him of Chris Cardona or David Gatt. He says that he had mentioned his money laundering case and that Brincat says it was Johann Cremona who told Theuma he was being investigated for money laundering., This goes completely against Cremona's earlier testimony.

Azzopardi asks whether he remembers that Theuma was given a job with the government.  Brincat remembers that Theuma had mentioned it to him, but does not remember when. "You have a memory good enough to remember where the Police Commisioner lives after so many years, but you can't remember this?", Azzopardi laments.

Brincat recalls that it was before the murder as he remembers that Theuma came to him some months later, annoyed that he had lost the job. Azzopardi asks who gave him the job, to which Brincat said that Theuma had said that he had been summoned to Castille and been given a job. Nothing more than that is forthcoming in terms of information on this job.

5.49pm: Moving back to Lawrence Cutajar - Azzopardi asks all sorts of things; whether Cutajar had ever mentioned when the arrest was going to happen, whether he had ever mentioned that the police raid was meant to take place amongst others - Brincat replies in the negative to every question.

5.46pm: Moving on from this, Brincat testifies that Theuma had told him that he went to Castille twice to look for Keith Schembri. He testifies that he had told Theuma that he was crazy in doing this. Theuma's reaction was to go quiet. Azzopardi asks whether Theuma had ever told him that one of the Degiorgio brothers had a recording which implicates others in the case, to which Brincat replies in the negative.

5.43pm: Azzopardi now comes to Brincat's traffic fine, asking him how long he had spoken to Cutajar before that. Brincat states that this must have been years ago. "So you went to put forward a complaint about a fine, and the first thing you did was to go to the house of the Police Commissioner - not to the depot or his office", Magistrate Montebello asks. "Yes", Brincat replies.

5.42pm: Azzopardi moves the questions on to Lawrence Cutajar.  Brincat says that he knew Cutajar from when Brincat had a restaurant in Birzebbugia.  He then also met him sometimes at Marsa where he worked as a bookmaker, and they used to talk about sports. Azzopardi asks whether Brincat was ever an informer for Cutajar, to which Brincat replies in the negative.

5.40pm: Azzopardi asks about part of his testimony where Theuma told him that he had been commissioned by Fenech.  He asks for what Theuma was commissioned, to which he replies that he was commissioned to be involved in the assassination of Caruana Galizia.  He states that he had gotten angry at Theuma for getting involved, asking him why he had done so - Theuma replied that it was for a friend - that friend being Fenech.  Fenech can scarcely believe what he is hearing - he shakes his head in disbelief, smiles and briefly puts his head into his hands. The defence states that the witness is making assumptions. That point is verbalised and Azzopardi queries whether he can verbalise that the defence has a "fertile imagination".

The defence's protests came after Brincat said that he thought that Theuma felt obliged to help Fenech because of his privileged place at the Hilton with his taxi business.

5.35pm: That concludes Arnaud's questioning. Parte-Civile Jason Azzopardi now begins to ask the questions.

5.30pm: This second meeting with Cutajar was a week before his arrest.

The court asks what information Yorgen Fenech would get from Keith Schembri. "Where they're searching Melvin's property, dates for these searches, stuff like that", Brincat replies.

Arnaud asks whether he had ever met Yorgen Fenech, to which Brincat replies that he had met him once at a party and spoken to him briefly

5.25pm: Brincat testifies that he had only told Theuma once of this, and not that Cutajar had continued to contact him for these recordings. He says that Cutajar had continued to contact him to look for the recordings, but he had not budged.  Soon after, he said, the police arrested him on the same day that Theuma was arrested.

He states that he thinks he was arrested because the police thought that he may be in possession of some recordings himself.

5.20pm: Brincat testifies that it was Cutajar who brought up the topic of Theuma's recordings to him. "He told me he wasn't going to beat around the bush and asked about Theuma and the recordings," Brincat says. However Brincat says that he did not tell him of the recordings, noting that he had advised Theuma against going to the police so it didn't make sense to speak to the police himselfBottom of Form

5.10pm: Arnaud asks whether Theuma had ever shown him any of the recordings. Brincat said that initially he had not believed that these recordings existed, and had told Theuma to go over to his home and bring some of the recordings.  Theuma had gone and taken a pen-drive with him, which he plugged into Brincat's computer and played maybe a minute of the recordings.  Brincat testifies that he couldn't make out much from the recordings.  He says that he didn't care much for what was in the them, but he wanted to put his mind at rest that he actually had recordings. "I told him that at least you have something in hand with which Yorgen can help you", Brincat testifies.

5.07pm: Arnaud now asks about when Theuma and Fenech went abroad together. He says that they had been abroad before the case happened, but not after. He said that after the case, Fenech had offered to go abroad together but that Theuma had refused - which angered Fenech because the tickets had already been purchased. Theuma had told him that he was afraid to go, lest he "ends up under a car".

5.05pm: Arnaud asks about whether Theuma had spoken to him about which lawyer he would appoint if he would go to get a pardon.  Brincat mentions that Theuma had spoken about trying to get Simon Busuttil, Jason Azzopardi, or Karol Aquilina as his lawyer. Asked whether there was any reasoning behind this, Theuma said that they were political - he said that he knew that Keith Schembri was involved with Fenech, so he felt that there was a political undertone to the case.

Asked about the connections with Keith Schembri, Brincat said that Theuma felt that Schembri and Fenech were "one thing" (bicca wahda), but that he had never spoken to Keith Schembri himself about the case - only twice about a job.

4.57pm: Brincat testifies that Theuma, before this all happened, was a cheerful man who was always willing to help him with anything he needed.

4.55pm: Brincat states that he does not know whether Theuma gave Fenech the recordings. After that encounter, Theuma used to go to his place frequently. Sometimes Theuma used to ask him about a particular word written in english print media, that he didn't understand him. Each time the articles were related to the Daphne Caruana Galizia case.

4.53pm: Brincat testifies that Theuma had been to Castille twice to speak to Keith Schembri because, according to what he had been told by Yorgen Fenech the former Chief of Staff was involved in the case. Brincat said that Theuma had told him that he had to pay money out of his own pocket for the Degiorgios as he feared that they would expose him, which was why he was demanding money from Fenech and then Schembri.

4.49pm: The defence does not seem particularly impressed with Brincat's testimony so far. Charles Mercieca has been eyeing the witness with an expression of surprise and general confusion, while Fenech himself - sitting on the front bench - is periodically shaking his head and chuckling silently at some of Brincat's testimony. Quite the contrary to his demanour while Cremona was testfying earlier - where he listened attentively for the whole sitting with little in terms of visible emotion.

4.47pm: Arnaud asks for details of what Theuma had said about Vince Muscat. Brincat had said that Theuma told him that the pardon for Muscat had already passed through Cabinet - something he found strange given how nothing had been said in public. As a result, he said that what Theuma is saying is not true.

4.43pm: Brincat said that he had dissuaded him from going to the police. Arnaud asks why he had done that. "Yorgen is a strong guy, he has a lot of contacts including in the government - so what do you expect? them to applaud him and give him a pardon?", Brincat says explaining his reasoning.

4.41pm: He testifies that he does not know Yorgen Fenech, but knows others in his family such as Ray Fenech through the horse-racing scene. He testifies that he had told Theuma that he had put himself into a corner which he couldn't get himself out of, which is why Theuma had mentioned the recordings to him. He said that he had advised Theuma to tell Fenech of the recordings, because he can "arrange something for him".

4.38pm: On that day, Brincat testifies that Theuma had said that he had been commissioned by Yorgen Fenech - he adds that at that point he knew that Theuma and Fenech were friends and had been abroad together - had sent him to one of the Degiorgios for this bomb to be done.

4.35pm: He says that before this meeting, they had met as usual but that Theuma had never mentioned anything with regard to the case. His behaviour was "indescribable", Brincat says.

4.34pm: Arnaud asks what he knows about the Caruana Galizia case. Brincat says that Theuma went to him one morning after phoning him. Theuma had told him to keep things in confidence, and he admitted to him that he was involved in the case - and that he was shocked at this - and that Vince Muscat, il-Kohhu, was talking to the police. He testifies that Theuma was in a panicked state and was afraid he was going to be arrested.

4.31pm: Arnaud begins his questioning. Brincat states that he is an auto-dealer. He is asked how he knows Melvin Theuma. He states that he has known Theuma for over 30 years from the horse-racing scene, saying that they had remained friends from there.

4.30pm: Like Cremona, Arnaud says that the witness is just that - a witness. He is not a suspect in any wrongdoing.

4.29pm: Magistrate Montebello returns to the courtroom. Edgar Brincat now takes the stand.

3.11pm: Till then, the sitting is suspended. 

3.10pm: Magistrate Montebello deplores the fact that even though the court had ordered Brincat to be present and to stay outside the courtroom until he gives his testimony, and that he had not done so. Brincat's lawyer had informed the prosecution that his client was unavailable as of 2:30pm. The Magistrate orders that Brincat be brought under arrest to testify. Azzopardi rises and begins "Before we adjourn...". Magistrate Montebello stops him in his tracks: "We aren't adjourning". Brincat is being brought to the courtroom under arrest now.

3.09pm: The issue however seems to be that Edgar Brincat is not actually here. He seems to have been present at court earlier - defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran says that he saw him in the corridors - but Arnaud says that he did not see him as he has been in the courtroom for the whole day. A reminder that this sitting has been ongoing since 10am.

3.08pm: Edgar Brincat is going to be represented by Matthew Brincat - the same lawyer as Melvin Theuma. The defence can scarcely believe this, with Mercieca suggesting that this is "collusion".

3.05pm: We have another twist in the tale today however - Edgar Brincat, 'il-Gojja', is being called to the witness stand.

3.04pm: That concludes Cremona's testimony.

3.03pm: Questions continue - Cremona says that Theuma never said that money or gifts were shared between him and Lawrence Cutajar. Mercieca asks whether Theuma was taking the recordings to incriminate Fenech and blackmail him, to which Cremona replies in the negative.

3.02pm: Mercieca asks whether Theuma had ever mentioned discussing a pardon with the Police Commissioner. Cremona says that Theuma had never mentioned this, but that in retrospect he suspects that this was the reason for this meeting.

Magistrate Montebello seems quite pertrubed by this. She stops the cross-examination and asks the prosecution whether they are aware of what is being said. Arnaud states that these points were all known before today and have been or are still being investigated. Mercieca fires back "so the pardon is being investigated", to which Arnaud replies that the defence lawyer is putting words in his mouth and that is not the case.

2.58pm: "Did Theuma ever asks whether he had asked favours from the Commissioner?", Mercieca asks. "Isn't that what it is?", Cremona asks. "So he used to ask him for favours then?", Mercieca asks again. "I don't think he used to ask directly", Cremona says.

2.56pm: Mercieca asks about Lawrence Cutajar. Cremona says that Theuma had mentioned the former police commissioner a number of times.

2.55pm: Questions go back to Theuma's requests to phone Kenneth Camilleri. Cremona states that Theuma wanted to contact Keith Schembri. When this means of contact did not pan out, because Cremona never phoned Camilleri, Theuma told him that he had gone to Castille himself to wait for Schembri. Whether this is actually true or not, Cremona says he does not know.

2.54pm: Mercieca asks whether Theuma would ever ask him to speak to Fenech about money. Cremona states that this was a frequent subject from Theuma, but that he never asked Fenech himself for money for Theuma.

2.53pm: "From his behaviour would you agree that one of his biggest worries was the money laundering case; that he would lose his money?", Mercieca asks. "Yes", Cremona replies.

2.51pm: Charles Mercieca now takes his colleague's place in asking the questions. He asks whether he knew what Melvin Theuma's job was. Cremona says that as far as he knew, Theuma was a taxi driver and that he used to do some sort of 'lottu'. He says that Theuma had mentioned that he had bought a flat and a field at one point but that there were never any points where he indicated the value of his property.

2.46pm: "He was controlling you basically, right?", the defence asks. "Yes", Cremona replies. He says that he did not believe what Theuma was telling him, and states that so much so was this the case that when he was first questioned by Arnaud, he told him that Yorgen Fenech was not behind the murder.

2.44pm: He said that the fact that Theuma used to continuously go to his office or incessently call him made him feel threatened.

2.42pm: The defence asks whether he ever felt that Theuma was trying to catch him in a trap. Cremona says that he did feel that, especially now that he knows that there were recordings in existence. "I couldn't get rid of him. I felt like I was caught in a net. He told me about something which made me lose so much sleep because I knew it. I was afraid he would implicate me if I tried to stop talking to him", he says.

2.40pm: Marion Camilleri asks whether as far as he knows Kenneth Camilleri knows Yorgen Fenech. Cremona says that Kenneth Camilleri had never mentioned Fenech, and as far as he knew they did not know each other.

2.38pm: Cremona says that the next morning, Kenneth Camilleri went to his office at 7 or 8am for a coffee - this was random; Kenneth Camilleri did not phone him or agree with him to meet. Theuma then came by an hour later and asked to speak to Kenneth Camilleri; he said that Kenneth was there and they met. The third meeting was then in Valletta, which is when Cremona overheard them talking about bail.

2.36pm: Speaking about the meeting itself, Cremona says that it took place on the same day as when Kenneth Camilleri phoned him at around 7pm.

2.34pm: Marion Camilleri rises to ask. She asks about the meeting in Zurrieq, and the relationship between Cremona and Kenneth Camilleri. Cremona says that Kenneth Camilleri was a friend of his father. She asks how Kenneth Camilleri knew that he could put him in touch with Theuma, but Cremona states that he doesn't know. He states that he did not ask about the nature of this meeting.

2.32pm: This concludes Azzopardi's questions. It is the defence's turn to cross-examine the witness next. This is the first time that Fenech's defence team will fully come into action - previous testimonies have been centered on Theuma's recordings and testimony. The defence is yet to cross-examine the self-confessed middleman.

2.28pm: Going back to Keith Schembri's contact with him - Cremona states that Schembri contacted him through his mobile phone, and told him that the meeting was for a gaming related matter. The meeting lasted in all between 45 and 60 minutes, Cremona said. He said that Schembri had spoken about Fenech quite a bit, and had even phoned him afterwards to see if he had gotten in touch.

2.24pm: Azzopardi now asks when he told Fenech that Theuma was recording him. Cremona goes back to an earlier part of his testimony where he said that Theuma had forced him to message Fenech with "Melvin is recording you". This was in 2018, he said. He said that Fenech had not replied to the message, and that the next message from Fenech to him was two or three weeks later and was work-related.

2.23pm: Questions turn to how Theuma knew about Vince Muscat's pardon request - Cremona says he does not know.

2.22pm: Questions turn to Keith Schembri - Azzopardi asks whether Schembri had ever contacted him. Cremona confirms that Schembri phoned him in September 2019 to meet. Cremona states he had never met or known Schembri before this. He said that they met and spoke about the gaming industry, after which - before he was leaving - Schembri asked him about Yorgen Fenech and why he wasn't answering his calls. Cremona notes that he asked him this because he knew that they were business partners. Still, Cremona said that he had been unable to get in touch with Fenech as of that period either. He states that this was because Fenech was abroad at the time. "Did he seem agitated or worried?", Azzopardi asks. "Yes he was worried about Yorgen - about the fact that he couldn't get through to him", Cremona replies. He testifies that Schembri did not say why he wanted to speak to Fenech, and merely told him to tell Fenech to call him if he manages to get through to him.

2.19pm: Asked whether Theuma was confiding in anyone else, Cremona says that Theuma used to confide in him and in Edwin Brincat, known as Il-Gojja.

2.25pm: Questions turn to the photo which Yorgen Fenech had sent to Cremona showing a person who Fenech said was the middleman for the murder between Chris Cardona and the Degiorgios. Cremona states that the message was sent sometime last year on the messaging app Signal. The two frequently used Signal to communicate, he adds.

2.13pm: Azzopardi asks whether he was ever told of recordings which had been deleted. He said that Theuma had never mentioned anything to him. He said that when he was first questioned he had asked whether he was included in the recordings to which he had been told that he wasn't. It was only a couple of months later that Arnaud had summoned him to tell him they had new recordings which included him, he said.

2.11pm: Azzopardi asks whether Theuma had ever mentioned a meeting between him and the former Police Commissioner - then still in office - at a farmhouse in Gudja. Cremona replies in the negative.

2.10pm: Delving further into this, Cremona states that Theuma had told him that Cutajar had told him he was being investigated for money laundering. Cremona clarifies that Theuma told him he had been given three types of information; firstly about the raid, secondly about how Europol had access to his recordings, and thirdly about how he had heard the recordings.

2.07pm: "Did Melvin Theuma tell you that he was finding assistance from former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar", Azzopardi asks. "Yes", Cremona replies.

2.04pm: Cremona confirms that Theuma had said he was ready to take Mario Degiorgio to Keith Schembri's house in Mellieha. "Theuma said that Cardona would kill the Degiorgios if they got bail and talked," Cremona says. Cremona confirms that Theuma told him that Yorgen Fenech had given him information related to the murder investigations, noting that he had said that this information came from Keith Schembri.

2.01pm: The first is with regard to 400,000 euro that need to be ready for the Degiorgios. Cremona confirms that Mario Degiorgio told Theuma who told him that Chris Cardona and David Gatt need to get this money ready.

2pm: Azzopardi is now going over parts of Theuma's testimony which Cremona appears to have agreed with - there are 12 points in all.

1.59pm: Cremona states that he was spoken to by the police three times in November 2019. In the first, Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra were present; and in the third it was those two and Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, he states.

1.58pm: After hearing both sides of the coin, Magistrate Montebello rules that since the witness was put forward by the prosecution and not the parte-civile, then the parte-civile can carry out a cross-examination. Azzopardi now starts his questions.

1.51pm: Magistrate Montebello is back in the court room. Jason Azzopardi starts asking questions as parte-civile lawyer, but an argument immediately breaks out between him and defence lawyer Charles Mercieca over what he can and cannot ask.

1.38pm: We are back in the courtroom. A short break in proceedings is ongoing at the moment, but we expect to get going again within the next few minutes.

11.43am: The sitting will in fact continue behind closed doors. Parte civile questions and the defence's cross examination will follow afterwards.

11.38am: Arnaud is finished with questions for now - he only has questions related to the recording which will be asked behind closed doors.

11.37am: Arnaud now turns to the mention of the police raid, and asks whether he had mentioned anything to Theuma regarding a police raid, even if it was invented. Cremona said that he had invented to Theuma that Kenneth Camilleri had told him that they would raid him at a Remissa in Marsa, which he knew he owned. The Magistrate asks why he felt the need to invent such a thing, and Cremona replies that he used to do everything to calm him down. "No way", he replies when asked whether he had information about a police raid. He said that when he heard of the police raid, this was the first thing to come to mind so he invented a story related to it. He says that he had no clue what this place was used for.

11.33am: Cremona testifies that Theuma used to tell him that Schembri and Fenech had "betrayed him" every day. Cremona says that he never told him why he thought they had betrayed him. Magistrate Montebello asks whether he had asked about this - Cremona says that he didn't try and egg him on as he would continue to contact him after that.

11.26am: Both the Magistrate and Arnaud are now asking whether Cremona had spoken to Fenech about Theuma. Theuma used to ask Cremona to pass the message on to Fenech that Theuma wanted to speak to him, Cremona now says. He says that he used to message Fenech asking him to contact Theuma.

11.25am: Magistrate Montebello is finding inconsistencies in Cremona's testimony - she states that Cremona had told the court that he had never spoken to Fenech about the case. Cremona however said Fenech had sent him this picture telling him the man in it is the middleman between Cardona and Alfred Degiorgio, mentioning the aforementioned nickname. He said nothing more.

11.23am: Questions now turn to a photo - Cremona states that Fenech had once sent him a photo with a certain "il-Bagri" in it, which he then showed to Theuma. This man, he said that he was told, was the middleman between Cardona and the Degiorgio brothers. The nickname was mentioned to him by Fenech.

11.20am: Asked why he had never done anything to make Theuma stop contacting him or meeting him, Cremona said that he didn't have the guts to kick him out of his office but that when he had tried to work from Valletta, Theuma had followed him there.

11.18am: Cremona said that his father was diagnosed with cancer in August 2018 before passing away in May 2019. "He didn't even give me some peace and quiet to savour the last few days with my father", Cremona, holding back tears, says. He says that Theuma even used to message him to meet him at hospital.

11.16am: Cremona says that Theuma would continue to ask for information primarily from Kenneth Camilleri - "he was obsessed with getting information from Keith Schembri", he said. He said that Theuma said he would go and wait for Schembri outside Castille if need be. He said that Theuma had asked for Camilleri's number but he had refused to pass this on because he didn't like to give out phone numbers.

11.14am: He says that he last spoke to Theuma on 11 November 2019, when he told him that he was to be raided on 16 November. He says that it is untrue that he had given him this information, noting that the Malta Gaming Authority had threatened him with the loss of his licence if this was true. He said that Theuma came to his office on 11 November, and that he had received a phone call from someone - he does not know who, but says it wasn't Yorgen Fenech as Fenech did not use his phone at those hours - to which he had reacted with a lot of swearing. He said that Theuma had been told that he was going to be raided the following Saturday - 16 November.

11.09am: Cremona says that Theuma used to keep contacting him right up until 11pm. He says that Theuma used to find peace of mind in him, and in Edwin Brincat.

11.08am: Cremona testifies that when Fenech would not give Theuma money, Theuma used to ask him to contact Kenneth Camilleri, at which point he would invent a story to avoid contacting Camilleri. He says that Theuma never asked him to message Fenech for money. The only time he asked was when Theuma told him to message Fenech and tell him "Melvin recorded you". Theuma did not explain the context of this.

11.06am: He says that his contact in business terms was in the form of a monthly report that he used to send to him. He said that he used to communicate more with the people below him. In 2019, he said, they had barely met as Fenech was abroad a lot.

11.04am: Magistrate Montebello finds it hard to believe that, given the business ties between the two, he had never spoken to Fenech about the matter. Cremona said that he never did, and that he didn't believe that Fenech could have done what Theuma was saying he did.

11.03am: He says that Theuma had once forced him to send a message to Fenech which read "Melvin recorded you". He said that Fenech did not reply. Cremona insists that he had never contacted Fenech about the recordings or the meetings he had with Theuma.

11.02am: Cremona confirms that he had approached Theuma with the sanction letter from the bank to warn him about the money laundering issues Theuma was facing. He presents the letter as evidence.

11.01am: "Theuma said he had heard the recordings through Cutajar, but he never told me how or where he heard them," Cremona says.

10.59am: Cremona said that he had not considered going to the police because Theuma used to speak to him about his contact with Lawrence Cutajar. Asked what the nature of this contact was through Edwin il-Gojja Brincat, but that he had spoken to him once directly as well. Theuma had told him that Cutajar had told him that he was under investigation for money laundering, and that Europol already had his recordings and even showed them to him before he was arrested.

10.56am: He only told Fenech - his business partner, lest we forget - when stories emerged in the media suggesting that a major businessman may be behind the murder. At that point, Cremona says, Fenech had denied Theuma's claims.

10.55am: Cremona says that he used to do everything he could to calm him down, even sometimes talking against his own partner. Cremona says that he never told a soul about what Theuma used to say - not even to Fenech. He only once told a priest, he said.

10.54am: Cremona says he was unaware of the possibility of Vince Muscat getting a pardon. Theuma told him, but Cremona insists he didn't hear the information from anyone else.

10.53am: Cremona returns to the stand. He is asked whether Theuma used to explain other details. Cremona says that Theuma once told him that he was going to go with Mario Degiorgio to meet an associate of Chris Cardona. Cremona notes that he does not know whether he went through with this, but that he had advised him not to get into issues which weren't his.

10.50am: Cremona has momentarily departed the courtroom as Arnaud and the Magistrate discuss a particular recording which must be heard and is related to some mobile numbers. This is the same recording which was heard behind closed doors last Thursday, and will be heard behind closed doors later today.

10.49am: Arnaud now turns to Theuma's mention of Cardona and David Gatt. Cremona states that Theuma had mentioned them many times. Theuma always said that if the Degiorgios got bail and they spoke, Chris Cardona would kill them, Cremona says. "He even said Cardona would supply 400,000 for the men," Cremona continues.

10.45am: Cremona says Theuma claimed that he once gave the Degiorgios around 30,000 euro of his own money while they were in prison.

10.43am: Cremona states that Theuma was not emotionally stable. He would frequently message him stating that he was going to commit suicide, and asking him to contact Kenneth Camilleri for him to get through to Keith Schembri. Cremona says that he would try and invent theories to calm him down, that he would speak against Yorgen Fenech to calm him down as well. Every time he tried to suggest whether he was certain the Fenech was behind the murder, he says that Theuma would get angry. It came to a point, Cremona testifies, that he got a second mobile number, saved it in his phone as Kenneth Camilleri, and let it ring when Theuma asked him to contact Camilleri - to make it seem like Camilleri wasn't picking up. "He wasn't in the right place - he had severe depression. He used to come into my office crying." This went on between June 2018 and October 2019, Cremona states.

10.39am: Cremona says that Theuma used to mention that he had contact with former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar; "he used to tell him that he had a money laundering problem", Cremona explains.

10.37am: Asked about the mention of Keith Schembri in particular, Cremona states that this was what Theuma used to tell him. He says that Theuma had told him he would uncover both Fenech and Schembri and their roles. Asked whether he gave him any advice in this regard, Cremona states that he didn't want to get into it and he didn't feel like it was his place to do so.

10.34am: Theuma used to complain to Cremona that he needed money to supply the Degiorgios. He used to complain to Cremona that Fenech would rarely answer his phone.

10.33am: Magistrate Montebello asks whether Theuma had said anything of his involvement; Cremona replies that Theuma had told him that Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech had commissioned him to kill Caruana Galizia.

10.32am: Cremona states that Theuma had told him that Cardona and Gatt had been involved in the case, but notes that this is absolutely not the case. He says that he did not know of anyone who was involved. He states that Theuma used to come caked in sweat, and in a state of panic.

10.31am: It was at this point that Theuma started to go to his place almost every day and started to recount the same story everytime - that they are trying to betray him. Until, a month later, he put two more people into the story, Cremona testifies. He says that Theuma had told him that he had gone to Mario Degiorgio who had told him that Chris Cardona and David Gatt were also involved in the murder.

10.28am: Some two days later, Cremona says, Theuma came to his office and when Cremona asked what was happening, Theuma told him "Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech betrayed me".

10.27am: Cremona said that he then confronted Camilleri, who told him that it had been Theuma who made the approach to try and get bail for the brothers. Magistrate Montebello asks whether he had asked about Theuma's involvement in the case, but Cremona replies that he had not. At that point, Cremona said that nobody had told him what case this was related to, but that he assumed it was for the Caruana Galizia case.

10.26am: Cremona confirms that the day after that, Theuma called him to meet. Cremona says that Theuma wanted to meet Camilleri. He states that they met outside Parliament, and that he overheard Theuma saying that "they arranged for bail". At this point, Cremona asked what is happening, and Theuma said that Camilleri had come to him and promised bail for the Degiorgio brothers. "When he told me that, I asked myself what I had gotten myself into", he said.

10.23am: Cremona testifies that the day after, Camilleri came to his office in Qormi for a coffee. At that point, Cremona states, Theuma came to his place as well and asked for Camilleri - not knowing that he was already there and not seeing him due to the size of the premises. The two met for a bit, Cremona said, before they both parted ways. These events all happened in the space of three days in June 2018, Cremona says.

10.21am: He said that while the meeting took place, he received a phone call from his father and moved aside. While Theuma and Camilleri met, Cremona said that Camilleri at one point walked aside and seemed to be taking a phone call. The meeting lasted some 10 minutes, after which he took Camilleri back to his car. At no point, Cremona said, did he ask about the meeting.

10.19am: Asked whether he asked Camilleri what the reason of the meeting was, Cremona replies in the negative. However, he admits that it was not usual for Camilleri to phone him, and notes that they hadn't spoken in years.

10.17am: Questions pass on to the case at hand - Cremona states that he got to know some details of the case in June 2018 after Kenneth Camilleri phoned and asked him to speak to Theuma. He states that he knew Camilleri through his late father. Cremona states that he didn't ask why, but took Camilleri to see Theuma in his car. He said that he didn't know where Theuma lived, but phoned Theuma on the way and he took Camilleri to meet him.

10.15am: Asked about Melvin Theuma, Cremona states that as a company they had rented the Qormi premises from him and others and he used to come to pick up rent. This was ongoing from 2013, he said. Asked what contact he would have with Theuma was only because Theuma passed by to pick up the rent every two months. Asked whether he had any further contact with Theuma, Cremona replies "No, never"

10.13pm: He states that Yorgen Fenech is a partner in his business and has been such since 2011. Arnaud asks in practice how the business is led together. Cremona states that Fenech's side leads the accounts and IT, and he leads the operations.

10.12am: Johann Cremona states that he works in the gaming sector, working in part out of Portomaso and in part out of Qormi, where there is a workshop and office.

10.10am: Cremona takes the stand while Magistrate Montebello verbalises Arnaud's declaration.

10.09am: Johann Cremona will be taking the witness stand shortly. Prosecutor Keith Arnaud has said that the man is a witness, and not a suspect in the case.

10.06am: Magistrate Rachel Montebello enters the courtroom, allowing for this sitting to start. Some of Caruana Galizia's family members have taken places in the second and third bench of the courtroom, while her husband Peter Caruana Galizia is next to parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi. Yorgen Fenech sits on the front bench, looking on silently.