Two convicted murderers have testified to five individuals - former Labour ministers Chris Cardona and Carmelo Abela amongst them - as having been involved in the failed 2010 hold up of the HSBC Qormi head office, and appear intent on saying more.

Hitmen George and Alfred Degiorgio took the witness stand before Magistrate Rachel Montebello to testify in the ongoing libel case filed by former minister Carmelo Abela against ex-PN MP Jason Azzopardi, over a Facebook post by the latter which linked Abela with the infamous attempted armed robbery at HSBC Bank’s Qormi head office in 2010.

In his April 2021 Facebook post, Azzopardi had also claimed that Abela received a €300,000 as payment for an alleged role in the robbery.

Abela had issued a categorical denial of Azzopardi’s claims and sued him for libel. Cardona has also denied any involvement.

The Degiorgio brothers, who are currently in prison serving 40-year sentences for carrying out the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, had issued a declaration in January, in which they claimed that former ministers Carmelo Abela and Chris Cardona had “given instructions in order for the heist at HSBC’s Head Office to go ahead.”

Testifying one after the other, both brothers confirmed the contents of the latest statement on oath.

Lawyer Pawlu Lia pointed out that the statement in question was not signed, but Degiorgio replied that he had “signed it now.” “I had not been asked to sign it originally... I wanted to reveal the people involved in the [heist] - David Gatt, Chris Cardona, Toni ‘l-Biglee’, Duminku ‘tal-SAG’... I will not do anything for nothing.” 

Both Lia and the court asked the witness about his last sentence. George Degiorgio replied that he and his brother had been ignored when they had filed requests for a presidential pardon in return for this information. “The police didn’t even look at them,” he said, later confirming that he and his brother had made the declarations so as to help their chances of obtaining a pardon. “When we asked for the pardon, I mentioned both the Caruana Galizia case and HSBC,” Degiorgio said, confirming that his sworn declaration was made after his conviction for the Caruana Galizia assassination. 

George Degiorgio testified after his brother, telling the court that they had dictated the declaration 18 months ago, “but something was going to happen and we ended up not signing it.” 

“About three or four years ago, we had asked for a presidential pardon and went to the police HQ to speak to Inspector Mercieca. We discussed the case but nothing happened. Nobody took any interest. We spoke about the HSBC heist... we wanted to mention Cardona, Abela... I won’t mention others not listed in this statement... when the time is right, I will mention them. I only spoke about this case,” he said.

A source acquainted with the case told the MaltaToday that the Inspector Mercieca in question is police CID inspector Joe Mercieca.

Lia asked Degiorgio why he was withholding information, but the witness did was not having any of it. “Had you wanted to hear the whole story, why weren’t we approached four years ago?” 

The lawyer repeated his question, asking whether others were involved and why he wasn’t mentioning them. “I only know about these people with regards to this case.” 

“Your brother mentioned five,” pointed out the lawyer. “My brother knows more than me,” replied the witness.

“Those who sent us betrayed us, these same people, one of them being Cardona.”  

When asked why he was only releasing the information now, Degiorgio was direct in his reply: “so maybe justice will be done with everyone, not just with us.” 

He insisted that he hadn’t changed his mind because his pardon request had been refused. “We didn’t do it because of the refusal... aren’t we supposed to talk about everything? We were involved in everything.”

Needled by Lia, who asked what was keeping them back, Degiorgio replied: “Soon. Give us some time. Soon. There is also the Ħal Balzan (heist) to hear about.”

Lawyer Pawlu Lia is appearing for Carmelo Abela, while Jason Azzopardi is being assisted by lawyer Joseph Zammit.

Lawyers Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri assisted the Degiorgios.