Former Economy Minister Chris Cardona has dismissed claims heard in court yesterday as "utter lies" that can easily be confirmed as such by checking official records.
Testifying in court on Thursday, Vince Muscat (il-Kohhu), said he would drive Alfred Degiorgio to Castille to meet with Cardona. "I would drop him off and go. He would then call me about her (Daphne Caruana Galizia's) whereabouts. One time, Alfred told me 'Cardona sent me a message. He mentioned the €150,000."
Muscat also said Degiorgio had told him that Cardona was sending messages with information on the raids.
Contacted by The Malta Independent, Cardona described the claims as "craziness (ġenn) and blatant lies."
"I was never aware of any project to kill anyone. This is pure evil fiction."
Cardona, whose ministry was located in Merchant's Street, said the mention of him meeting people at Castille was "interesting."
"Everyone knows that you have to leave your details with the receptionists when you enter Castille. One can easily check the records and confirm that these claims are untrue. I never received people at Castille. It was not my ministry. My ministry was somewhere else."
As to claims that he had suffered an overdose, Cardona said this also be traceable through hospital records, if it were true.
"I cannot understand why he [Vince Muscat] is making up utter lies that can be confirmed to be false by a very simple exercise."
Asked what he makes of the fact that Muscat is supposedly telling the truth, which is the main condition for his pardon, Cardona said il-Kohhu "needs to be careful what he says because this can have legal effects on his status."
"If what he's saying is hearsay that's one thing. But if he's saying what he knows that is evidence, and it turns out to be untrue, he could be jeopardising his position."
"In all fairness, what is happening is that he is telling the court what other people told him. The probatory value of what he is saying in my regard is zero."
Cardona confirmed that the police had asked him about these very claims when he was summoned for questioning earlier this month.
"Yes, they asked me about these claims, but the Castille and overdose claims are new to me and the police never spoke to me about this. This can be confirmed with Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra."