On Thursday, police superintendent Nicholas Vella resumed his testimony in the jury trial of Yorgen Fenech.

Fenech, 44, has pleaded not guilty to two principal charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit the murder.

Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb on 16 October, 2017.

Five men have already been convicted in connection with Caruana Galizia's assassination. Vince Muscat admitted his role in the murder in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Alfred and George Degiorgio each received 40-year prison sentences after pleading guilty in 2022, while Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2025 for supplying the bomb used in the attack.

The prosecution is being led by Attorney General lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella, assisted by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianella Demarco and Gianluca Caruana Curran, while lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family.

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding.

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12:17 De Marco then moves on to the fate of some of Theuma's vehicles during the magisterial inquiry.

Besides the Mercedes and the Jaguar, he owned a Kia Sportage, a Nissan Leaf, and a Toyota Passo.

Vella confirms decisions to release certain cars were taken by the inquiring magistrate, not by the police.

The defence points out that Theuma had filed requests for the release of his Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar.

Vella replies that the vehicles were initially retained because they were of investigative interest and data still needed to be extracted from them.

Once that process was complete, the magistrate authorised their release, subject to conditions.

Defence lawyer Gianella de Marco then asks what became of the vehicles after Theuma's arrest.

"Did he get the taxis and the other cars back?" she asks.

"The taxis, no," Vella replies. "They were being operated by someone else."

"So, they stayed with him?" de Marco shoots back.

"No," Vella insists. "They stayed on the road, but they weren't returned to him."

The defence then turns to Theuma's properties.

"Were those seized?" de Marco asks.

"It's difficult to seize property," Vella replies.

He explains that police instead obtained a freezing order preventing Theuma from transferring his assets.

11:54 De Marco next picks up on a figure in Superintendent Vella's report, which values two of Melvin Theuma's taxis at around €600,000.

"Why am I saying €600,000 when the two vehicles together were worth around €41,000?" he asks rhetorically.

One car was bought in 2011 for €20,500 and another, used as a taxi, was purchased in 2017 for €20,200.

"The value isn't in the cars," he explains. "It's in the taxi permits."

He tells the court the permits, not the vehicles themselves, were worth around €600,000 because taxi licences were issued in limited numbers at the time.

Back then, he adds, Y-plate services had not yet entered the market, making traditional taxi permits considerably more valuable.

The questioning then turns to Theuma's wider fleet.

Vella says he owned around six vehicles, including a 2017 Mercedes-Benz. Demarco reads another entry from the report, referring to a 2016 Jaguar.

11:47 Vella says Ryan Farrugia would receive betting slips from customers, reading out wagers such as: "Play No. 1 on Saturday's draw - €2."

On Saturdays, before the Lotto draw, he would drive through places like Qormi and Luqa to collect cash before handing it over to Theuma, the superintendent says.

He adds that while Theuma was not particularly confident using computers, his daughter was, and his partner also lent a hand.

De Marco suggests the evidence paints the picture of a family-run operation.

"So it was a family business - that was the family's job?" she asks.

"I don't think so," Vella replies.

He insists Theuma's main occupation was driving a taxi, while Charmaine was a housewife who looked after their child and only helped with the illegal lottery operation on Wednesdays and Saturdays; the busiest days of the week, where the lotto was drawn.

11:45 The cross-examination moves on from property to the people closest to Melvin Theuma.

De Marco asks Superintendent Vella about Theuma's partner, Charmaine, and whether she was employed.

Vella replies that she was not working at the time, although she owned property in her own name.

The defence then asks about Charmaine's daughter, Shyanne.

Vella says she had worked for a period but was unemployed by the time of Theuma's arrest. He adds she helped Theuma run his illegal betting operation.

De Marco then turns to Shyanne's partner, Ryan Farrugia.

Vella tells the court Farrugia worked in construction but also assisted Theuma by collecting bets and gathering money owed by punters.

"You've got 19 here," she says. "Some of them may have been transferred to someone else. Do you have any proof that they had been passed on?"

Vella recalls two garages in Żebbuġ, Malta.

"But they're not on this list," Demarco shoots back. "You didn't include them."

"No," Vella replies.

The defence lawyer argues the list omits properties Theuma had previously owned and sold, before asking the witness whether they can at least agree there were 19 properties in total.

"So, it appears," Vella concedes. He adds that one particular garage in the list, a Santa Venera garage, had later been transferred to someone else.

He says only a few other properties were also missing from the list, including stables that were being managed by others.

Demarco then asks what Theuma did with the "stables".

Vella says many of them were occupied by other people.

"He rented them out," he confirms.

When De Marco asks who the tenants were, Vella replies simply: "Foreigners."

"Were they Airbnbs?" Demarco quips, before quickly adding with a smile: "I'm joking."

She refers to a schedule compiled by Superintendent Vella, based on Identity Malta records, listing properties believed to be under Melvin Theuma's control.

She begins reading through the list aloud.

"A maisonette in Marsaskala... a garage in Marsaskala..." she says, working her way through the entries.

De Marco points out that the schedule contains 19 properties.

Vella pushes back.

"I identified 11 properties that I was 100% certain belonged to him and were still in his possession at the time," he tells the court.

11:36 De Marco then shifts gears, turning to the gap between Theuma's declared income and his apparent property dealings.

Vella tells the court between 2006 and 2018, Theuma declared around €250,000 in earnings - roughly €22,000 a year over the 12-year period.

The defence lawyer presses him on his property holdings.

"So how many properties did he actually have?" she asks, suggesting the figure was around 20.

Vella says investigators uncovered 21 documents linked to property transactions, but pushes back against the suggestion that they represented 21 properties owned by Theuma.

He points to two promise-of-sale agreements from 2019: one for the airspace above a property valued at €14,980, and another for a San Ġwann flat, for which a €16,500 deposit had been paid.

The paperwork, he insists, reflected transactions rather than a snapshot of Theuma's assets.

"As an example," Vella says, "he bought two garages in Żebbuġ and later sold them."

He rifles through his papers.

"I am certain that he owned 11 properties, 11 properties were linked to him."

11:34 We're back in court, where defence lawyer Gianella de Marco has opened her cross-examination of Superintendent Nicholas Vella by zeroing in on the police investigation into Melvin Theuma's finances.

She points out investigators had concluded, in less than a month, that Theuma was involved in money laundering and tax evasion.

The questioning then turns to Theuma's employment history.

Vella says Jobsplus records showed Theuma was employed in a government role, which later turned out to be the phantom job, but stumbles when asked to pin down the exact job title.

"A driver?" he ventures, before suggesting it was a role with the government agency responsible for housing maintenance and embellishment.

Demarco says that Theuma remained registered with Jobsplus until 29 September. Before that, he had been registered as a taxi driver.

Vella explains when Theuma took up the government post, the Jobsplus system automatically closed off his taxi-driver registration because a person cannot hold two full-time jobs at once.

"That doesn't necessarily mean he stopped driving taxis," Vella adds. "In fact, he carried on operating taxis."

10:52 The court has now adjourned for a half-hour break, after which the defence team will begin their cross-examination of the witness.

10:50 Police recovered several chat logs between Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, and the former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. Superintendent Nicholas Vella clarified that he was not involved in any investigations regarding potential information leaks from within the police force, as his assignment was strictly focused on the investigations targeting Theuma. 

10:45 A separate investigation was launched into Theuma's "phantom job" with the government. Five individuals, including Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri, were charged in connection with this, but all were acquitted due to a lack of admissible evidence after Theuma refused to testify. The prosecution is currently appealing this acquittal.

10:40 Four of Theuma's family members were eventually charged with illegal gambling, while Theuma himself received a presidential pardon. The cash seized during the police searches was presented as evidence during the magisterial inquiry and subsequent criminal cases. While the €132,000 found with Theuma's partner's mother was initially seized, it was later released after she provided documentation that the funds were inherited. Legal proceedings against Theuma's partner and her daughter have concluded, with both being found guilty, while the daughter's partner remains involved in ongoing legal proceedings.

10:35 Police continued their search of multiple properties linked to Melvin Theuma, seizing a Toyota and a Mercedes in Żurrieq, along with a Jaguar located in a garage in Ħal Safi, as well as various personal items and electronic equipment. Significant amounts of cash were discovered during these searches: €112,304.40 was found at a Qormi property belonging to the daughter of Theuma's partner, and €550,207.70, including foreign currency, was found at Theuma's own residence in Żurrieq. Additionally, €1,900.64 was found in the possession of Theuma's partner, and €132,445 was found with her mother. 

10:29  Superintendent Nicholas Vella continued explaining how police processed the evidence seized during the searches carried out following Melvin Theuma's arrest. Vella confirms investigators recovered chats between Theuma and Yorgen Fenech but said he did not know the contents of all the conversations.

The witness then explains the procedure followed when police arrest a suspect and identify communication with another person through a mobile phone.

He tells the court the device is immediately isolated from all communications by placing it inside a Faraday bag, a specialised evidence bag that blocks all incoming and outgoing signals.

This prevents the phone from connecting to mobile networks or cell towers, ensuring no calls, messages or remote access can alter or delete the data stored on the device before forensic examination.

10:08 In the video shown to jurors, police officers are seen removing a plastic ice cream tub from the evidence bag. Inside the tub, they discovered two Samsung mobile phones, a Philips voice recorder, a USB cable, and three USB sticks-two red and one black. The police also recovered a thick stack of papers bound by a rubber band, which contained large screenshots of chat conversations with Yorgen Fenech and the widely circulated photograph of Melvin Theuma standing with Keith Schembri at Castille. 

10:04 Theuma eventually secured Matthew Brincat as his lawyer, with the assistance of Kathleen Grima, Vella tells the court. The "vital" box Theuma had refused to release was opened by police in his presence, a process that was recorded on film. Inside, police discovered a voice recorder, USB drives, mobile phones, and various documents. Jurors were shown the video footage of the box being removed from its evidence bag and opened by officers.

9:57 While at the police depot, authorities managed the logistics of the arrest, including notifying Child Protection Services because both Theuma and his partner were in custody, leaving their minor children without adult supervision after school. Among those arrested that day was Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja; Superintendent Nicholas Vella noted that Brincat and Theuma communicated frequently. Although police searched Brincat's property, no evidence of value was recovered. In the days following the initial arrests, police conducted further searches of properties owned by Theuma that were being rented to third parties or family members.

9:51 Superintendent Vella continues that police entered Theuma's residence and arrested several family members. Regarding the box Theuma considered vital, it was agreed that the police would maintain possession of it, though it would remain with Theuma wherever he was taken. A court expert was appointed to secure Theuma's electronic devices. A simultaneous search of his Marsaskala property resulted in the seizure of various mobile phones and other electronic equipment. 

9:45 Superintendent Vella tells the court that upon his arrest, Melvin Theuma insisted that a box he carried with him was "vital" and must be kept with him at all times. Police assured Theuma the box would be preserved and sealed in an evidence bag. During the process, Theuma requested legal assistance from specific Opposition politicians and lawyers - Simon Busuttil, Jason Azzopardi, and Karol Aquilina. Additionally, he requested to speak with an "Arnold" from the police force, which officers later concluded was a reference to investigator Keith Arnaud. 

9:41 Superintendent Nicholas Vella testifies that Melvin Theuma was engaged in illegal betting operations at a site in Marsaskala, which he frequented weekly. When intelligence emerged that Theuma was planning to relocate his operations, police decided to move the arrest forward by a few days. Although police teams initially tracked Theuma to the Attard area, a team led by Keith Arnaud proceeded to his Marsaskala property while other officers tracked his movements toward Żurrieq. Police eventually intercepted and arrested Theuma at his residence in Żurrieq, subsequently conducting searches of his person, his vehicle, and his property. 

9:23 Vella details his role in the money laundering investigation that ultimately led to Melvin Theuma's arrest, explaining that he spent nearly two months gathering intelligence on Theuma's financial patterns from local banks and the tax commissioner. He noted that the Malta Secret Service provided support throughout this process. Two weeks after the investigation concluded, Vella requested a magisterial inquiry, leading duty magistrate Gabriella Vella to appoint experts and issue arrest warrants for those under investigation. This process culminated in the arrest of Melvin Theuma on November 16, 2019.

9.09 The jurors have taken their seats in the hall. The first witness is Superintendent Nicholas Vella, who already started testifying on Wednesday.