Yorgen Fenech on Saturday named former government chief of staff Keith Schembri as the alleged "mastermind" behind Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, during a tense cross-examination in which prosecutors scrutinised his relationships with senior police officers, regulators and political figures.

Fenech made the claim after prosecutor Godwin Cini challenged the portrayal of middleman Melvin Theuma as a powerful figure who had secured a government job.

Fenech told the court Theuma continued to wield power because, if he were to reveal everything he knew, Schembri would be the one facing criminal charges.

Judge Edwina Grima intervened and asked Fenech why Theuma believed he possessed such influence. Fenech replied that Theuma knew who the real mastermind was.

When the judge asked him to identify that person, Fenech replied: "Keith Schembri."

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

The cross-examination, which had started in the morning after the defence had finished questioning Fenech, focused on Fenech's contacts within the police force, including former police superintendent Ray Aquilina.

Fenech said he knew Aquilina but denied they were friends, claiming they had met only around five times. He said he did not have Aquilina's telephone number saved and could not remember who had introduced them.

Cini confronted him with records showing numerous missed, incoming and outgoing calls between the two men, as well as Signal chats in which disappearing messages had allegedly been set to five minutes and later to 12 hours.

Fenech denied having such conversations and insisted any calls between them were unrelated to Aquilina's duties as a police officer.

The judge asked Fenech whether he had ever discussed Theuma with Aquilina. He replied that he had not.

Fenech nevertheless testified that Theuma had previously told him Aquilina would be the officer who would arrest him. Theuma was arrested in November 2019.

The court was also shown a message sent to Fenech by his Portomaso secretary informing him that Aquilina had arrived for an appointment. In his reply, Fenech instructed the secretary not to enter Aquilina's name in the visitors' register.

Asked whether Aquilina had visited Portomaso and whether he had ordered that the officer's name be omitted from the register, Fenech initially replied: "It could be."

Defence objections

The questioning prompted repeated objections from defence lawyer Charles Mercieca, who argued that the prosecution was risking prejudicing the jury by referring indirectly to separate criminal proceedings.

"We are now in the red zone," Mercieca warned.

The judge ruled that the prosecution could question Fenech about Aquilina but cautioned Cini to phrase his questions carefully and avoid informing jurors about unrelated charges or proceedings.

"We are treading dangerous waters," the judge said, later instructing jurors to disregard one of the prosecutor's questions.

Fenech was also questioned about his friendship with former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta, who initially formed part of the investigation into Caruana Galizia's murder.

Fenech acknowledged that he and Valletta were friends and that they had travelled abroad together twice to watch football matches. He denied paying for Valletta's trips but admitted that his children jokingly referred to the former senior police officer as "Uncle Silvio".

He confirmed knowing that Valletta had initially worked on the murder investigation and said the officer was removed from the case in 2018 because of a conflict of interest.

Cini suggested that Fenech's ability to receive private visits from a police superintendent at Portomaso indicated that he, rather than Theuma, held real influence.

Fenech countered that Theuma had significant connections of his own, claiming his "second father", Edwin Brincat, known as il-Gojja, was close to the police commissioner. A police superintendent, he argued, could not be compared with the commissioner.

17 Black

The court was also taken through messages involving former tax commissioner Marvin Gaerty.

In one exchange concerning 17 Black, Fenech referred to Caruana Galizia using the derogatory Maltese expression "dik is-saħħara" - "that witch".

Fenech acknowledged the reference but insisted he had never had any reason to be angry with the journalist.

"They were ugly words used in certain circles. I know it is not nice," he told the court.

Fenech said the conversation concerned his offshore company, 17 Black. He maintained that tax had already been paid on the company in 2016, before Caruana Galizia publicly referred to it the following year.

Messages from Gaerty included the reassurances "Don't worry, brother" and an offer to sign off on whatever Fenech needed. Fenech maintained that he had nothing to hide and denied Gaerty felt obliged to him.

The prosecutor also revisited WhatsApp conversations between Fenech and former Malta Gaming Authority chief executive Heathcliff Farrugia concerning a suspicious transaction report and regulatory inspections involving Fenech's casino.

Fenech denied using his relationship with Farrugia to obtain confidential information or preferential treatment. He described his messages as complaints about what he considered an unfair regulatory process, saying his casino had been singled out while other operators were in a worse position.

He conceded that WhatsApp may not have been the correct medium and that he should perhaps have used an official email, but insisted the substance of his complaints was legitimate.

The later part of the afternoon sitting turned to Fenech's relationships with former prime minister Joseph Muscat, Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.

Group chat with Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri

Fenech confirmed being part of a group chat with Muscat and Schembri but denied having an intimate or overly familiar relationship with the former prime minister.

The prosecution then produced messages in which Mizzi twice instructed Fenech to delete their conversations using his laptop.

Fenech said he assumed Mizzi's request arose from concerns about privacy and a desire to prevent their private conversations from falling into other people's hands.

Cini read Fenech's response from the chat: "Yes, phone is wiped."

Asked whether Mizzi wanted the messages deleted because of Fenech's involvement in the Electrogas project, Fenech replied: "Absolutely not."

Fenech said his professional relationship with Mizzi began around the end of 2013 through work on Electrogas and eventually developed into a friendship. He denied having conducted business with Mizzi or Schembri and said he learned about their Panama companies, Hearnville and Tillgate, through the media.

Morning session

In the morning session Fenech admitted in court that he passed money to Melvin Theuma but insisted he never paid a cent towards the assassination itself. 

Prosecutor Godwin Cini repeatedly put it to Fenech that his messages showed a pattern of cultivating relationships with people in positions of power and then turning to them for assistance, information or favours.

Fenech rejected the suggestion, insisting that he had good relations with many people but did not exploit their positions.

The cross-examination ranged from Fenech's contacts with the Planning Authority and Bank of Valletta to his relationship with former Malta Gaming Authority CEO Heathcliff Farrugia, before moving into leaked information concerning the murder investigation, money passed through Melvin Theuma and an alleged plan to smuggle a mobile phone into prison.

Defence questions

The morning began with Fenech continuing to explain the events surrounding his arrest in November 2019, on questions by his defence lawyer Gianella de Marco.

He recalled being arrested aboard his yacht as it left Portomaso at dawn, describing the operation as a "massive charade" designed to create a spectacle. He said he had intended to leave temporarily, clear his head, get clean and assemble a legal team, rather than flee.

Fenech said that after the yacht was intercepted by Armed Forces of Malta patrol boats, officers wearing balaclavas boarded the vessel. He was initially told that he was not under arrest, but his wrists were fastened with zip ties and he was ordered to return to port.

He said he was subsequently informed that he was being arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Fenech described being in poor physical and psychological condition after arriving at police headquarters, saying he was suffering severe cocaine withdrawal. He underwent his first interrogation the following day.

He later went on police bail and was provided with protection after telling police that he was afraid because he knew many things. He said officers stayed at his home to protect him and that his partner Marlene took their children to London.

Fenech also recalled being taken to Mater Dei Hospital after his anxiety worsened. He said he underwent an ECG and angiogram on November 23 and was kept under observation for 24 hours.

His first formal police statement was made on November 29, he said, before he was formally charged with complicity in the murder the following day.

"I did not pay for murder" - Fenech

Fenech said he had never paid anything towards the murder itself. He acknowledged giving money to Theuma, but said this was because Theuma - who was given a presidential pardon to reveal information about the murder - had already spent his own money and he wanted to calm him down and prevent him from becoming agitated.

He described Theuma's account of events as a "fairytale", saying he continued giving him money because he believed keeping him calm was the easiest way of dealing with him.

Fenech also admitted that he knew he was doing something wrong when he passed on sensitive information relating to the murder investigation.

He said he was not strong enough to resist Theuma and acknowledged that he should not have relayed the information.

The prosecution later returned to this admission.

Cini questioned Fenech about information concerning the murder investigation that had been leaked to him and which he subsequently passed on to other people.

Fenech confirmed that he had asked Theuma to pass on some of the information.

Asked whether this had been done deliberately to sabotage the murder investigation, Fenech replied: "It was a mistake. That wasn't the intention."

Phone in prison

Cini also confronted him with messages concerning a proposed mobile phone for Alfred Degiorgio while he was in prison.

Theuma had asked Fenech how he could speak to Degiorgio. Fenech responded that he would try to obtain a mobile phone with a foreign SIM card because the prisoners' ordinary phones were being tapped.

Fenech insisted the messages were "bluff" and were not genuine plans. He said he was attempting to keep Theuma calm and buy time.

Cini pointed out that Fenech had previously accused other people in the case of bluffing and noted that both Theuma and Vince Muscat had testified under oath that the Degiorgio brothers had a mobile phone in prison.

Fenech nevertheless maintained that he had no actual knowledge of the phone.

The prosecution also returned to the €400,000 Fenech had previously told police he had passed to Theuma.

Cini reminded him that he had admitted giving Theuma the money to pass on to the Degiorgio brothers.

Fenech confirmed that he had told police he would give money to Theuma, explaining that Theuma had said he would pass it on.

When Cini put it to him directly that Theuma had asked for money to give to the killers and that Fenech had provided it, Fenech replied: "Yes, and I told you why."

Earlier, the prosecution had spent considerable time examining Fenech's relationships with senior officials.

Cini presented messages involving Johann Buttigieg, then the head of the Planning Authority, including exchanges in which the two discussed business opportunities and planning matters.

Fenech dismissed the language as "business jargon".

The prosecution also presented a message in which Fenech asked Buttigieg to help with a farmhouse belonging to Theuma. Fenech said the planning application had become stalled after Theuma was asked to make changes, prompting him to intervene.

Relationship with bank CEO

Cini suggested that Fenech had helped Theuma with everything. Fenech replied that he had only assisted him in that particular matter.

Cini also questioned Fenech about his relationship with Deo Scerri, who served as Bank of Valletta chairman between 2016 and 2020.

Fenech acknowledged knowing Scerri but said they had only met twice at the House of Four Winds.

Fenech said there was nothing unusual about his relationship with a bank chairman and maintained that approaching Scerri was not improper.

The prosecution then turned to Heathcliff Farrugia, the former MGA chief executive who had leaked regulatory information to Fenech.

Fenech denied being friends with Farrugia, describing their relationship as professional.

The questioning also touched on 17 Black.

Fenech maintained that the offshore company was legitimate and had no illicit activity. Cini pointed out that Caruana Galizia had been the first journalist to write about 17 Black.

Fenech acknowledged this.

Cini then referred to Fenech's police statement, in which he had said he would discuss 17 Black "at the opportune moment".

Fenech said he had not been in a good psychological state and had lost faith in both the investigator and the investigation after mentioning Keith Schembri.

He also claimed that he had not wanted to discuss the company at that particular moment because he preferred to answer questions about it in a setting where he felt comfortable.

Legal dispute

The prosecution's questioning was at one point by a lengthy legal dispute over the scope of cross-examination.

Judge Edwina Grima ruled that Fenech could not be questioned about matters that could suggest he had committed crimes other than the specific offence with which he was charged.

However, because Fenech had put his own good character into issue during his testimony, prosecutors were permitted to ask questions aimed at testing that claim.

The judge also ruled that prosecutors could not question Fenech about the private lives of people who had no connection with the trial.

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca had argued that some of the prosecution's questions were irrelevant to the murder charge and risked damaging the reputations of Fenech and other people appearing in the messages.

Prosecutor Anthony Vella countered that cross-examination was intended to test a witness's credibility, particularly after Fenech himself had spent considerable time discussing the Tumas Group, its business structures and his relationships with various people.

At one point Cini asked Fenech whether he had read the data extracted from his own messages before coming to court.

Fenech said he had not, explaining that it was difficult to revisit them because the period covered was "the worst time of my life".

Pattern in evidence

Cini said he had noticed a pattern in Fenech's evidence, with the accused repeatedly saying "I think" when recalling events.

Fenech replied that he needed to be careful about what he remembered and said he was being guided by his lawyers.

The morning ended with Cini questioning Fenech about whether he had ever felt threatened by Theuma.

Fenech acknowledged that Theuma had pointed a gun at him on two occasions, once placing it on a table and once resting it on his foot.

Cini highlighted an apparent contradiction with Fenech's evidence the previous day, when he had said he had never felt physically threatened by Theuma.

Fenech said Theuma had never explicitly threatened to shoot him, but that his manner of expression and the presence of the gun nevertheless made him feel threatened.