Former Office of the Prime Minister chief of staff Keith Schembri told jurors on Tuesday that Johann Cremona had been offered up to €400,000 by Yorgen Fenech's lawyers to testify in the businessman's favour, only for the witness to repeatedly refuse to answer the court's questions before ultimately insisting he had "made it up".

A dramatic confrontation unfolded in court as Tuesday's afternoon sitting centred on testimony by Schembri, who told jurors that Johann Cremona had informed him he was first offered €200,000 and later €400,000 to give evidence favourable to Yorgen Fenech.

Schembri also said that he remained friends with Yorgen Fenech after Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, denied having business arrangements with the accused, and insisted he never leaked sensitive information from the murder investigation during hours of testimony in Fenech's trial by jury.

Yorgen Fenech has pleaded not guilty to charges of complicity in the wilful homicide of Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit her murder.

Caruana Galizia, a columnist with The Malta Independent, was killed in a car bomb on October 16, 2017.

After the lunch break, Schembri claimed that around two days before he was due to testify in 2020, a "very important person" contacted him to say lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca wanted to meet him.

"I met them and they told me, 'Help Yorgen,'" Schembri testified. "I told them, 'How can I help him more than I already have?'"

Earlier in his testimony, Schembri described Fenech as "a very good friend" and confirmed that he had previously said he would "go into fire" for him.

He denied ever asking Kenneth Camilleri to calm Melvin Theuma, rejecting Camilleri's earlier testimony that he had sent him to reassure the middleman. Schembri also denied arranging meetings between Camilleri and Johann Cremona, insisting he did not even have Camilleri's phone number.

Schembri said he knew Cremona as one of Fenech's business associates and recalled meeting him at Castille over an issue concerning small gaming enterprises.

Part of Schembri's testimony then continued behind closed doors after he said he wanted to refer to information received from the Malta Security Services and did not feel comfortable discussing it in open court.

When proceedings resumed in public, Schembri said he only discovered Melvin Theuma had been Fenech's driver after the latter's arrest.

Asked why Fenech had disappeared after Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, started cooperating with police, Schembri replied that Fenech had developed a cocaine addiction but said he did not know the reasons behind it.

The prosecution also produced a screenshot showing Schembri sending lawyer Charles Mercieca a WhatsApp message urging him to "use Signal", the encrypted messaging application. Schembri said he could not remember the context and suggested it "may have been a joke", though prosecutor Godwin Cini noted the message had been sent just eight days before Schembri was due to testify.

Following Schembri's evidence, prosecutors requested that Cremona be recalled to answer questions about what they described as a serious allegation that defence lawyers had attempted to bribe a witness.

Despite objections from the defence, Madam Justice Edwina Grima upheld the request and ordered court marshals to immediately bring Cremona back into the courtroom.

What followed was one of the most tense exchanges of the trial.

Judge Grima repeatedly asked Cremona whether lawyers Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran had approached him about his testimony and whether anyone had offered him money.

Initially, Cremona refused to answer. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he repeatedly told the court, before adding: "I don't want to answer."

The judge warned that witnesses could not simply refuse to reply and cautioned him that he could be arrested if he continued withholding answers.

Questioned about Schembri's allegation that he had spoken of offers of €200,000 and €400,000, Cremona repeatedly pleaded with the court, saying: "I will take the blame. I will assume all consequences."

Asked directly who had offered him money, he eventually replied: "Maybe I made it up."

Judge Grima challenged that explanation, telling the witness she did not believe he had fabricated such serious allegations only after being questioned.

At one point, Schembri glared towards Cremona, prompting the judge to intervene and tell him: "Don't look at him, Mr Schembri."

The prosecution requested that Cremona continue testifying behind closed doors, arguing that he appeared frightened and might fear repercussions, but the request was refused.

As the questioning continued, the judge repeatedly told Cremona she did not believe he was telling the truth and warned he could remain under arrest until the following morning if he continued refusing to answer.

"I'm not believing you. You didn't make it up," she told him.

Cremona eventually insisted that he had fabricated the claims and said he had felt compelled to tell Schembri those things. He denied wanting to harm anyone and said he could no longer remember exactly when the conversations had taken place.

The tense exchanges prompted defence lawyer Giannella de Marco to request that the jurors leave the courtroom while she raised a legal objection.

She argued that the judge's repeated statements that she did not believe the witness risked prejudicing the jury and could create the impression that the court did not trust the defence lawyers.

De Marco also argued that Schembri had suddenly introduced the bribery allegation "out of the blue" after damaging testimony about him had emerged during the trial, noting that he had twice been reprimanded by the judge for staring at Cremona.

The prosecution countered that Cremona had appeared visibly frightened throughout his evidence and had never immediately denied Schembri's allegations, instead only later claiming that he had invented the story. Prosecutors argued that remarks such as "I no longer have anyone" and "I will take all the blame" showed he was withholding the truth and even requested a psychological assessment and suicide watch for the witness.

In her ruling, Judge Grima dismissed both the defence's objection and the prosecution's request for a psychological assessment.

She said the court had been justified in warning Cremona that he could be arrested because he had repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether he had been offered money, whether anyone had discussed his testimony with him and whether he had spoken to Schembri. The judge stressed that it would ultimately be for the jurors alone to determine whether they believed the witness.

Once jurors returned, Cremona again denied ever being offered money, replying simply: "I made it up."

As the sitting drew to a close, prosecutor Godwin Cini questioned Cremona about an earlier courtroom exchange with defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran, during which he had told him: "You'd better not open your mouth."

An emotional Cremona said he had felt like "the victim" as the defence attacked his credibility and feared the impact the case would have on the small business he was trying to build.

Asked who he was afraid of, he replied: "Only God. I'm in bits (iżżarmajt). I've been through a lot. I haven't laughed since 16 May, 2019. I'm afraid of hanging out with my friends."

After bursting into tears and telling the court he was seeing a psychiatrist, Cremona was dismissed from the witness stand.

Earlier, Schembri opened his testimony by confirming that he had known Fenech since they were teenagers. Although they had lost contact for some years, he said they renewed their friendship after he became chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister in 2013.

He described their relationship as a personal friendship, saying they communicated through WhatsApp and Signal, sometimes speaking daily and at other times going weeks or months without contact. According to Schembri, their conversations revolved around family matters and business interests, while Fenech also visited Castille in connection with the Electrogas project in which he was involved. Schembri also recalled that Fenech visited him during his battle with cancer in 2015, while he himself visited Fenech's residence, ranch and boat.

Questioned about business links, Schembri insisted that he and Fenech never conducted business together, although his father had sold land to the Fenech family.

The prosecution also focused on Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the murder. Schembri testified that Theuma had visited his office during the 2017 election campaign seeking employment and had asked to take a photograph with him. He said he did not know who Theuma was at the time, explaining that many people visited his office, and maintained that nobody had informed him in advance that Theuma would be coming. He attributed some gaps in his recollection to the effects of his cancer.

Schembri acknowledged meeting Theuma on only two occasions, one of which was at Fenech's ranch. However, he insisted that he did not recognise Theuma at the ranch and only realised afterwards that he had been present when someone pointed him out.

Asked about visits to Fenech's ranch, Schembri estimated that he had been there between five and ten times and confirmed that he continued visiting even after Caruana Galizia's murder. He also recalled seeing former lead murder investigator Silvio Valletta at the property.

Schembri testified that he was at Castille with then prime minister Joseph Muscat and government communications chief Kurt Farrugia when news of the explosion emerged. He described being shocked and said Muscat immediately instructed that those responsible be caught, prompting him to request assistance from Europol.

The prosecution also questioned Schembri about Daphne Caruana Galizia's reporting on him. He said the journalist had written extensively about him and his family, including his cancer treatment and the Panama Papers revelations. Schembri admitted he disliked her reporting, particularly references to his children.

A significant portion of the testimony centred on 17 Black and offshore structures linked to Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.

Schembri confirmed that Tillgate was his Panama company but insisted it had been established as part of a trust structure and denied having any arrangement involving 17 Black. He acknowledged that 17 Black had been listed as a potential target client but maintained that there had been no agreement and that discussions with Fenech concerned possible business ventures after his political career, including recycling projects.

He also rejected allegations concerning financial links between 17 Black and companies connected to himself and Konrad Mizzi, describing claims relating to Egrant as "a coup d'etat against Malta's prime minister" and insisting the company belonged to nobody.

Questioning later shifted to the murder investigation itself.

Schembri testified that he organised meetings at Castille involving investigators, the Attorney General, senior Armed Forces officials and others to receive updates on the investigation, although he said he usually remained present only briefly before leaving. He acknowledged that the dates of police raids leading to the arrest of the alleged hitmen were discussed during those meetings but denied passing any information to anyone.

He also confirmed that he had been informed Vince Muscat had been prepared to cooperate with investigators but denied any involvement in discussions concerning a possible pardon, adding that information had been relayed during official briefings. Schembri said he only became aware of Melvin Theuma's recordings through media reports.

Before Schembri began testifying, Madam Justice Edwina Grima reminded him of his right not to answer questions that could incriminate him. The court also reiterated an earlier ruling prohibiting any reference before the jury to a presidential pardon request made by Fenech.

Earlier in the morning, the jury also heard testimony from digital forensics expert Martin Bajada, who said screenshots allegedly showing communications involving Schembri could not be verified from the devices he examined, while Europol experts Margarita Louka and Daniel Fernandes Mallheiro testified on forensic examinations carried out on devices belonging to Melvin Theuma and members of his family.