Yorgen Fenech admitted in court that he handed hundreds of thousands of euros to murder middleman Melvin Theuma after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, but insisted he was paying the money to end an extortion campaign and had nothing to do with the journalist’s murder.
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.
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, Giannella de Marco 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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18:11 And with that, Judge Edwina Grima adjourns proceedings for the day.
The trial will continue tomorrow, when the defence is expected to resume its address to jurors. Thank you for following today's live blog, we will have a roundup of the day's key points on our website shortly.
18:10 Mercieca recalls Schembri testifying that he had heard Melvin Theuma mention him in recordings.
"So where are these recordings? No, all we get is Keith removed, and Yorgen put in his place. Theuma says he never spoke to Schembri; the mastermind is Yorgen ta' Tumas," he says.
18:07 Mercieca continues criticising the way the investigation was conducted, telling jurors that, in the defence's view, too many questions remain unanswered for them to be satisfied that everything was properly investigated.
As an example, he raises the issue of a paper allegedly found in Keith Schembri's office during a search carried out while he was being investigated as a suspected mastermind in the murder.
According to Mercieca, the paper contained the initials "DCG", together with dates and the names of other people linked to the case. Yet, he stresses, the document was "NEVER brought" before jurors as evidence.
"Do you believe it? Nothing is said here for nothing," Mercieca says.
The lawyer then contrasts the evidence given by different witnesses. He recalls Inspector Kurt Zahra saying that he had questioned Schembri about the paper and that Schembri explained it contained notes taken during a meeting.
Mercieca says, however, that when the defence questioned Schembri directly about the same document, he said he knew nothing about it. The defence is therefore presenting the two accounts as inconsistent.
Mercieca questions whether this is how the prosecution should be building its case, asking critically: "Is this how they're going to win this case?"
17:55 Mercieca turns to the prosecution's cross-examination of Yorgen Fenech, criticising the amount of time which, in the defence's view, was spent on messages that had no direct connection to the charges being decided in this trial.
He says that for several days, jurors were shown and read communications involving Fenech which, according to him, "have nothing to do with the case".
Mercieca then refers to one of those exchanges in which Fenech had described Daphne Caruana Galizia as a "witch".
The lawyer challenges the significance the prosecution is attaching to this material, asking jurors: "Is this what you want to build the case on?"
17:50 Mercieca draws the jurors' attention to the name of the proceedings before them: "The Republic of Malta vs Yorgen Fenech."
The lawyer says the Republic of Malta should not be viewed solely as the party prosecuting Fenech. "It is also his Republic," Mercieca stresses.
From there, the defence turns to the rights of the accused. Mercieca argues that the same State which brings charges against a person also has a duty to guarantee that person's rights.
"It gives you rights, and among those rights is the right to a fair investigation," he tells jurors.
Mercieca links this back to the defence's criticism of how the investigation was conducted, insisting that Fenech is entitled to the same protections and rights guaranteed by law to every accused person.
17:47 Mercieca stresses to jurors that the defence's arguments should in no way be interpreted as justifying the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
"No one here is saying that murder is right. No one is saying that the death of a person is a good thing," the lawyer says.
He explains that the defence's role is to challenge the case brought against Yorgen Fenech, not to defend the crime itself. "We are defending the person, not the crime," Mercieca stresses.
The lawyer says some jurors may have admired Caruana Galizia, while others may have disagreed with her or held strong opinions about her.
Regardless of those personal views, Mercieca stresses that her murder was wrong, while continuing to urge jurors to separate any personal feelings from their assessment of the evidence against the accused.
"This crime deserved a proper, unbiased investigation. Not one that cowered in the face of power. The last thing Keith Schembri did before he resigned was file Melvin Theuma's pardon in Joseph Muscat's office."
17:44 Mercieca also urges jurors to put aside any preconceptions that may arise from the nature of the case itself.
"We're talking about the murder of a journalist, with a businessman as the accused. You must battle any sympathy or antipathy you may feel about this. Daphne wrote wonderfully well, but her words stung. Her writing sparked strong emotions. Make an effort and don't let prejudice cloud your judgment."
17:40 Mercieca argues that when the prosecution addressed jurors at the start of the trial, it did not give them the full picture. He insists that the prosecution has a duty to present all the evidence, including material which may not support its case.
The lawyer returns to the question of justice, asking whether, when speaking about the need to secure justice for the Caruana Galizia family and Maltese society, justice for Yorgen Fenech had also been forgotten.
Mercieca then addresses the jurors directly, urging them to set aside any ideas or conclusions they may have formed before the trial. "Prejudice is the enemy of justice," he tells them.
He acknowledges that over the years jurors are likely to have read and heard a great deal about the case in the media, but argues that reporting can present events from different perspectives. According to Mercieca, what jurors have seen and heard directly in the courtroom during the trial has given them a picture which, in several respects, differs from the one they may have formed outside court.
17:34 Mercieca again reminds jurors that their decision must be based on all the facts and evidence they have heard over the past weeks.
He turns to the testimony Yorgen Fenech gave from the witness stand and says that, in the defence's view, his version of what happened over those three years is "more likely than not" the true account of events.
Mercieca then goes back to the beginning of the trial and the message which, he says, was conveyed in the prosecution's opening address: that there should be only one objective - to establish the truth and secure justice for the Caruana Galizia family and Maltese society.
At this point, Mercieca raises his voice and adds another question to that equation: "And justice for Yorgen? Have we forgotten about that?"
The defence therefore argues that while justice must be served for the victim and her family, jurors must also ensure that their judgment of the accused is based solely on what has been proven before them.
17:24 The judge and jurors are back in the courtroom following the break.
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca resumes his address to the jury.
17:04 The judge has ordered a 15-minute break in proceedings, with the court set to resume at 5.15pm.
17:01 Mercieca told jurors that their role was to find the truth and argued that investigators had failed to properly follow the evidence. "Your job is to find the truth. The investigators had the same job, they had to follow the evidence. Instead, they didn't seize Keith Schembri's phone or laptop, didn't seize Johann Cremona's mobile, they let Adrian Vella uninstall WhatsApp while in their car, they didn't clone Keith Schembri's phone... and I could go on and on."
Mercieca stressed the importance of the jurors' responsibility as they deliberate on the evidence before them, while taking a swipe at star witness Melvin Theuma. "You have a very important role here. You need to deliberate about what you've heard, and reach a verdict. You all have your own experiences. The truth does not depend on how loudly you yell, and you know who I'm referring to!"
16:54 Mercieca argued that Fenech was in the United States when Theuma claimed he received the order to find someone to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia. "So who spoke to Theuma?" he asked. "Did Yorgen give the order from the US? Melvin's version is a lie. How can you be sure - not maybe, sure - that he is telling the truth?"
Mercieca also referred to a text Theuma sent to his stepdaughter after meeting Keith Schembri at Castille, in which he wrote, "I have the power," followed by, "I have a very important meeting, if you get what I mean." Mercieca said this was a sign "that he had someone by the..." before trailing off. "I can't use the expression in court," he told the jurors.
He then highlighted another inconsistency in Theuma's evidence, saying Theuma had claimed he only went to Castille once, despite being shown a visitor sheet indicating otherwise, which Theuma allegedly dismissed as a frame-up. "Theuma's testimony is full of such inconsistencies," Mercieca said.
"They forgave Theuma everything, provided he blamed Yorgen Fenech ta' Tumas. 'I bluffed about the commissioner, I wasn't thinking when I mentioned Schembri and Yorgen Fenech is the mastermind'. We heard it so many times," Mercieca said.
16:51 Mercieca continued to cast doubt on Melvin Theuma's account of how Fenech allegedly commissioned the murder, arguing that key parts of his story were never properly verified by investigators.
He pointed to a passport stamp dated April 7, 2017, which he said showed Fenech had left for the United States for around a month. This, Mercieca argued, placed Fenech abroad at the time Theuma claimed the alleged meeting outside the Blue Elephant took place.
Mercieca highlighted what he described as significant gaps in the investigation, questioning why investigators had not sought to verify the central elements of Theuma's account.
"You're investigating the case and you don't check the crucial part of Theuma's story. You don't speak to Blue Elephant employees to establish whether Yorgen was there. You don't check the passenger manifest. You don't even check whether the Blue Elephant was open. You don't check where Yorgen was."
He argued that the available evidence instead placed Fenech in the United States when Theuma claimed the alleged instruction was given.
"If Fenech was abroad, who spoke to Theuma in April?" Mercieca asked.
He said this raised serious questions about the reliability of the prosecution's key witness, arguing that Theuma's account could not be relied upon without certainty.
"Theuma's accounts don't add up. Yorgen was in America when the mandate was supposedly given, so Melvin's account is a lie," Mercieca said.
Mercieca then reminded the jury of the standard required for a conviction, stressing that they could not convict Fenech simply because something was possible.
"You need to be morally sure. 'It could be' is not enough. You need to be sure about Melvin Theuma's story," he told the jurors.
16:38 Mercieca told jurors that Keith Schembri was obsessed with Daphne Caruana Galizia, pointing to the fact that he allegedly still had a file containing her blog posts in his Castille office two years after her assassination.
"Two years after she was killed, he still had a file of her blog posts in his Castille office. And that file was not seized by police or presented to you in court. Because everything is online, they said. This is the way the suspected mastermind was searched," Mercieca said.
Mercieca's address was then paused while issues with the courtroom audio were being resolved.
16.28 Mercieca argued that Keith Schembri had the motive to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia, telling jurors that she was not killed because of something she was about to publish, but because of what she had already written.
"Daphne wasn't killed because of what she was going to write. She was killed for what she wrote," he said.
Mercieca pointed to six blog posts published by Caruana Galizia in 2017 in which she wrote about Schembri's illness and suggested he was going to die. According to Mercieca, Schembri vowed to kill her that day.
He then referred to an alleged meeting between Schembri and David Gatt on August 16, 2017, saying Gatt had told the court that Schembri had found him naked in his office. Mercieca said Schembri called Gatt after the meeting.
"Who here believes that they're going to open up Castille on the day after Santa Marija to discuss an ambassador's post?" Mercieca asked the jury.
He added that on the same evening, Gatt called George Degiorgio.
"This is the proof, what Europol found on SIM cards," Mercieca said.
16:18 Mercieca told jurors that Melvin Theuma's version of events did not make sense, highlighting what he described as inconsistencies in Theuma's account.
"He said Yorgen asked to meet outside the Blue Elephant to discuss a murder, when he has an office at level 21 in Portomaso," Mercieca said.
He also questioned Theuma's claim that Fenech had told him to contact George Degiorgio because Daphne Caruana Galizia was going to publish information about his uncle, Ray, before saying that the two only spoke again two or three weeks later.
"If someone is going to publish something, you don't go two or three weeks without talking," Mercieca argued.
He also challenged Theuma's account of the timing of the alleged plot, saying that an approaching election should have accelerated the plan rather than brought it to a halt.
"If an election is approaching, you'd hurry the plot up even more, not stop it. Everyone is distracted during an electoral campaign," Mercieca told the jury.
16:12 Mercieca began his address to the jury, but within a minute the court was hit by a power cut. Power was quickly restored, allowing Mercieca to continue his speech.
"I won't drag this out or repeat myself. I just ask that you don't give Yorgen Fenech more than he deserves *[Nitlob biss li lil Yorgen Fenech ma ttuħx aktar milli hu tiegħu.]"
15:57 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca will deliver oral submissions to the jury, presenting the defence's initial case for Yorgen Fenech's acquittal.
This address was separate from the formal closing arguments expected at the conclusion of the trial, as the defence intends to call additional witnesses to testify in the coming days.
15:54 Jurors are brought back in. None of them have a question for Yorgen Fenech.
15:50 Jurors leave the hall while the court sorts out the earlier issue concerning the call log on the pen drive.
The judge rules that it is inadmissible as evidence; jurors will be told to disregard the prosecution's question and Fenech's reply about it.
15:41 Cini continues pressing Fenech over his actions after the murder, pointing to the additional money given to the killers and information passed on to Melvin Theuma.
Cini: "You continued paying the killers and passing information to Theuma."
Fenech: "I gave him money to keep Melvin calm. And I had been receiving information about the investigation since November 2017."
The prosecutor then challenges Fenech's claim that he eventually realised Theuma was trying to implicate him, questioning why he never attempted to create evidence protecting himself.
Cini: "You never recorded Theuma or even sent him a message asking what he had dragged you into, so you could keep a screenshot?"
Fenech: "No, I didn't."
Cini suggests the absence of such messages or recordings was because Fenech's version of events was untrue.
Fenech: "That's how it happened."
The exchange grows increasingly heated as Cini fires off a rapid series of questions, including references to the €450,000 allegedly paid to Theuma and remarks captured in the recordings. Fenech repeatedly steps in to correct the prosecutor's characterisation of his words and actions.
Cini raises his voice as he delivers his final address to the accused.
Cini: "Who are you fooling? Fenech, you aren't fooling anyone. These are your fingerprints all over this murder."
Fenech: "It's not true."
Cini then tells the court he has no further questions, bringing a fiery three-day cross-examination to an end.
15:38 Cross-examination resumes with Yorgen Fenech back on the witness stand, as Cini returns to the USB Melvin Theuma allegedly handed him in October 2018.
Cini recalls Fenech describing this as a "turning point", asking the accused to confirm whether it was at that stage he risked being implicated in the murder.
Fenech says he knew he could be implicated because he had done "several wrong things", including passing on information, and acknowledges having taken on an "ugly role". However, he insists he never believed his actions amounted to involvement in the murder itself.
Cini asks whether the prospect of being secretly recorded worried him. Fenech says it did not concern him as much as the note bearing his name and what he believed was Theuma's attempt to implicate him.
Cini questions how Fenech could have been more troubled by his name appearing on a note than by recordings potentially capturing him discussing the murder.
Asked how he reacted at the time, Fenech says: "I cried." He says he informed Keith Schembri and that Theuma returned a few days later to apologise.
Cini then puts it to Fenech that in the recordings he can be heard giving money and allegedly giving orders.
Fenech: "That's Melvin's interpretation."
Fenech says that he continued paying Theuma because he was being blackmailed, while sinking further into drug addiction.
Cini challenges the credibility of that explanation, pointing out that Fenech was CEO of the Tumas Group and was obtaining information connected to the murder investigation, yet claims he did not know what to do.
Fenech: "I didn't know how to deal with criminals."
Cini then questions Fenech's reaction after supposedly realising that Theuma was trying to implicate him, asking why he did not try to record Theuma himself or directly confront him about what he had allegedly done.
Cini: "You realised someone was trying to implicate you, yet you never tried recording him? You never confronted him and asked, 'Are you serious? What have you done to me? What have you dragged me into?'"
15:28 As Judge Edwina Grima resumed her place on the bench, the prosecution addressed the court to announce that the telephone records requested prior to the recess had been successfully located. These specific call logs demonstrated that Yorgen Fenech had dialled Johann Cremona three times on the exact evening that Cremona and Kenneth Camilleri conducted their home visit to Melvin Theuma.
However, a procedural hurdle emerged regarding the evidence. The records had been submitted on a USB drive by a telecommunications representative from GO who had not formally sworn an oath to authenticate his identity or role. This left the legal status of the documents in limbo, raising the question of whether they could be formally admitted into the official case file. Recognising the procedural knot, the judge set the debate aside for the moment, stating she would deliver her ruling on the matter at a later time.
With the legal technicality deferred, the jury was ushered back into the courtroom to allow the relentless cross-examination of Yorgen Fenech to resume.
15:20 Sitting has resumed
13:14 The judge brings the morning session to an end there, adjourning proceedings for lunch.
Fenech's testimony will resume at 3pm.
13:12 Fenech claims Keith Schembri once told him he intended to send Kenneth Camilleri to kill Melvin Theuma.
Cini recalls Fenech saying in his interrogation that Schembri invited him to his home and told him Camilleri would be sent to shoot Theuma.
Yorgen Fenech: "Yes, I remember that clearly. He told me he was going to send Camilleri to shoot Melvin. But now I think that was all a lie."
Asked by the judge why he now believes it was untrue, Fenech replies: "Because it didn't happen, thank God."
Cini then refers to Fenech's police statement, where he said he "froze" at the prospect of one person killing another and urged Schembri: "Don't be stupid mate, let's not get into any more trouble."
Fenech says he tried to convince Schembri not to solve one problem by creating another. He says he repeatedly tried calling Theuma, but received no answer.
Fenech claims he later called Schembri, who told him the plan had not gone ahead because Theuma had his son with him.
13:10 Returning to the episode involving Theuma's gun, Fenech says he felt intimidated but was never directly threatened with it.
Continuing on Fenech's claim that he was protecting Keith Schembri, Cini suggests this was why he avoided mentioning Schembri in the recordings.
YF: "I was loyal."
Godwin Cini (GC) argues this meant Fenech effectively took responsibility for the situation himself. Fenech replies that he did so only to "close a door on the situation".
Cini questions why he would involve himself so deeply simply to shield Schembri, suggesting Fenech feared Theuma might confront him directly.
Pressed again on why he would take such risks, Fenech replies: "I was a loyal friend."
12:59 Cini returns to an account Fenech gave during his police interrogation, concerning an incident in which Melvin Theuma allegedly placed a gun on a desk in front of him.
When investigators had asked why he did not simply tell Theuma to remove the weapon, Fenech had replied: "I thought I could fix the problem using money."
Cini seizes on the statement, suggesting that Fenech believed and still believes that money can solve any problem.
Yorgen Fenech: "That's totally not me. But I knew it could work with Melvin, because he was obsessed with money."
The prosecutor then confronts him with testimony heard earlier in the trial, alleging that €400,000 had been offered to a witness in exchange for testimony favourable to Fenech.
Yorgen Fenech: "Never!"
12:48 The jurors return to the courtroom and prosecutor Godwin Cini resumes his cross-examination.
Cini returns to October 2018, when Melvin Theuma gave Fenech a USB containing recordings he had secretly made. Fenech says he never listened to the material, although Theuma told him that recordings involving Keith Schembri also existed.
Fenech says this strengthened his suspicion that Theuma was attempting to implicate him, but when Cini asks why he was not curious enough to hear the recordings, Fenech says he was "a mess" at the time.
The prosecutor highlights Fenech nevertheless passed the USB directly to Schembri without listening to it or making a copy.
Cini questions why Fenech would give away potentially important evidence, particularly since he claims he had already become suspicious of Theuma after paying him €50,000.
Fenech explains that, despite those suspicions, he was still protective of and loyal to Schembri at that stage.
Cini responds sarcastically that Fenech had been remarkably unlucky: the very material he says could have demonstrated Schembri's involvement was handed straight to Schembri himself.
Fenech agrees that this is what happened.
The prosecutor then puts it to him that he actually got rid of the recordings because their contents implicated Fenech himself.
Fenech rejects the accusation, insisting it is not true.
12:32 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca raises an objection, prompting the jurors to be escorted out of the courtroom.
Mercieca challenges the prosecution's claim that Fenech made three unanswered calls to Johann Cremona on the night Kenneth Camilleri visited Theuma, saying there is no record of those calls.
Prosecutors respond that the call log came from data extracted by police in a separate case concerning leaks from the murder investigation.
The judge says that unless the call log forms part of the evidence in this case, she will instruct jurors to disregard both the question and the answer. Court-appointed IT expert Martin Bajada will verify whether it is in evidence and report back.
12:27 Cini turned the questioning to the matter of how Melvin Theuma secured a fictitious government position. Fenech explained that Keith Schembri had contacted him to report difficulties reaching Theuma and asked Fenech to pass along a message, adding that Theuma subsequently visited the Auberge de Castille on multiple occasions.
At that moment, defence counsel Giannella de Marco muttered a remark, drawing a sharp reprimand from the judge, who warned her to cease coaching the witness and commenting while testimony was underway.
Cini pressed Fenech on the timing of Schembri's pressure on Theuma. Fenech responded that the pressure occurred following the arrangement of the government job, noting that audio recordings confirmed Theuma's visits to Castille, and claimed that Schembri distanced himself completely from the situation after the assassination.
Cini challenged that assertion, arguing that records showed no direct communication between Theuma and Schembri, meaning every piece of information had to be channelled through Fenech. Fenech insisted the prosecutor was mistaken.
Cini then confronted the witness with contradictions between his current testimony and his earlier statements to the police. Fenech admitted his accounts did not match word for word, but maintained that his choice to take the stand was driven by a desire to share the complete truth.
12:21 Cini read aloud from a Signal message that Yorgen Fenech had transmitted to Melvin Theuma on April 25, 2018, which instructed the middleman to attempt to speak with an unnamed individual, remain calm, and call when convenient, while noting that investigators had supposedly deduced that the Maksar group kept the explosive device inside a Żebbuġ garage.
Fenech acknowledged sending the text, explaining that Keith Schembri had messaged him with instructions to relay the information to Theuma. He added that Theuma had stated in an audio recording that Schembri would have eliminated him had Fenech not intervened.
Cini then highlighted that Fenech had placed three unanswered calls to Johann Cremona on that exact same evening-coinciding precisely with the night Kenneth Camilleri went to Theuma's residence in Żurrieq. Fenech stated that he had no recollection of those calls.
12:13 Cini highlighted a contradiction regarding the pressure placed on middleman Melvin Theuma leading up to the assassination, noting that testimonies indicated Fenech repeatedly pushed to accelerate the killing. Fenech firmly rejected the assertion.
When Cini pointed out that both Muscat and Theuma testified about Fenech's relentless urgency, Fenech again denied the allegations. The prosecutor then confronted Fenech with his own police statement, where he previously claimed that Keith Schembri was the one applying pressure. Fenech clarified that he only learned of Schembri's pressure after the fact, adding that witnesses in the courtroom had also implicated David Gatt in driving the plot forward.
Cini pressed for the source of Fenech's knowledge regarding Gatt, to which Fenech replied that Theuma had informed him. Regarding Schembri, Fenech maintained that Theuma had mentioned Schembri's involvement later on, noting that the connection was also referenced in an audio recording involving Johann Cremona. When Cini challenged the lack of communication traces between Schembri and Theuma, Fenech insisted that such records did exist.
The prosecutor questioned the logic of heavy communication focused exclusively on a murder plot rather than mundane matters, pointing out the contrast with Fenech's earlier claims that Theuma had merely asked him to speak with Schembri about a permit for a rubble wall. Fenech concluded by stating that multiple witnesses had already provided testimony contradicting the prosecution's timeline.
11:59 Cini brings up correspondence from May 2019, pointing out that Fenech had written to HSBC Bank to deny ownership of 17 Black while complaining about how difficult it was to substantiate that denial. Fenech responded that he might have made such statements, noting that because it was a private enterprise and he was not a public figure at the time, he believed he acted within his rights.
Cini then pressed Fenech on his evasive stance during the police investigation, recalling that when officers questioned him about the offshore entity, he had stalled by stating he would answer at a more suitable time. Fenech explained that his hesitation stemmed from a sense of discomfort.
The prosecutor highlighted a specific moment from the interrogation transcripts where inspector Zahra repeatedly brought up 17 Black, prompting Fenech to defensively ask if Caruana Galizia had ever actually named him, pointing out that the initial public allegations had instead linked the company to John Dalli. Fenech confirmed on the stand that he made this remark because Dalli's image had featured prominently in Daphne Caruana Galizia's original expository post.
11:53 Upon the resumption, the courtroom was presented with a screenshot of a WhatsApp exchange between Yorgen Fenech and MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan.
In the message, Fenech complained to the editor: "Couldn't they have avoided 17 Black and published a decent photo?"
The conversation then turned to arranging an in-person meeting at Fenech's office the next morning. When Balzan asked if Fenech would be available at 11 a.m., Fenech replied, "Yes, friend."
11:30 The session has been suspended for a short break
11:29 Cini noted that Fenech had cashed out approximately 6 million euros when 17 Black was wound down.
Cini reminded the accused that after consistently denying ownership, his identity as the director was publicly exposed in 2018, triggering an emergency parliamentary debate. While Fenech stated he could not recall the specific dates or the parliamentary discussion, Cini highlighted a chilling remark captured on audio, recalling that Fenech had told Melvin Theuma, "I'll throw her down from here, and I won't regret it." Fenech acknowledged it as a comment made in poor taste.
Cini also brought up private communications between Fenech and MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan regarding a published article about 17 Black, noting that Fenech had specifically complained about the photograph used in the piece. Fenech confirmed that he did indeed contact the editor over the image.
To examine these communications further, the prosecutor requested that the WhatsApp chat log between Fenech and Balzan be displayed for the jury.
11:20 Cini pivoted the cross-examination toward a controversial wind farm venture in Montenegro, probing Yorgen Fenech about his involvement in the transaction. Fenech noted that an active magisterial inquiry was already examining the spreadsheet titled Montenegro wind economics, prompting the judge to intervene and steer the prosecutor in a new direction.
Cini pointed out that Fenech had already begun coordinating the Montenegro scheme by the time Daphne Caruana Galizia published her initial exposés in early 2017. While Fenech again pointed to the ongoing judicial inquiry, he acknowledged receiving a formal business plan for the wind farm project dated July 28, 2014, though he downplayed its significance by claiming thousands of similar documents routinely crossed his desk.
To challenge Fenech's earlier claims that he remained calm during the media scrutiny, Cini read aloud from a personal email written by the accused. In the message, Fenech lamented that the venture was a massive, life-altering mistake that nearly destroyed him, explaining that once he committed to the undertaking, he felt compelled to see it through to the end. Pressed on how this despair squared with his previous assertions of tranquility, Fenech attributed the desperate tone of the email to his severe substance addiction and the breakdown of his marriage, arguing that intense pressure and scrutiny naturally accompanied undertakings of that magnitude.
Cini argued that Fenech had been terrified of the impending media fallout and the damaging revelations being uncovered by the journalist. Fenech pushed back, maintaining that the email explicitly pointed to his personal struggles with drugs, and accused the prosecution of attempting to weaponize his addiction against him.
11:08 Yorgen Fenech is back on the witness stand as the cross-examination continues.
GC: "Do you feel uncomfortable speaking about 17 Black?"
YF: "No."
At this point, the judge intervenes and warns Cini to be careful and to abide by what the court has already stated in its decree. Cini continues with his questioning, prompting a visibly annoyed reaction from the defence.
Godwin Cini: "Because your lawyer is uncomfortable."
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca: "This is grounds for contempt".
11:07 Defence counsel raised a critical legal challenge regarding the prosecution's use of specific financial figures, arguing that the underlying Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit report was legally inadmissible because no agency official had ever authenticated it. The defence noted that although Matthew Caruana Galizia had previously referenced the document - which originally leaked into the public domain via MEP David Casa - the source material lacked formal verification.
Initially, the presiding judge sided with the defence, ruling that the prosecution was barred from citing the FIAU documentation. Prosecutors immediately pushed back against the restriction, pointing out that an exact digital copy of the report had been recovered directly from Fenech's personal laptop during the investigation.
The judge agreed to review the admissibility of the computer files. In the interim, the bench permitted the prosecution to continue questioning the witness on the subject, provided they refrained from projecting the emails or document screenshots onto the courtroom screens.
The judge also gives a further direction: Yorgen Fenech must not be questioned about criminal proceedings that are still pending.
10:41 Fenech confirms that 17 Black "had started receiving some small payments," although he does not remember how much after Cini pointed out Orion Engineering Group had paid it €200,000.
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca says he wants to formally verbalise his previous objection. Jurors are escorted out, again.
10:27 Mercieca notes that Fenech is facing separate criminal charges related to 17 Black, about which jurors cannot be given information. The prosecutor says he is moving on.
"You've been cross-examining him for three days," the defence lawyer says.
"We've had witnesses who testified for a week," the judge tells him.
Prosecutor Cini says he's moving as quickly as he can.
10:21 The courtroom proceedings shifted toward a fresh batch of internal emails displayed for the jury, bringing high-level political nicknames and corporate correspondence into sharp focus.
In the first message, the anonymous sender casually inquired what a figure referred to as "big K" might think about a prospective purchase intended for the current week, questioning whether the move would buy them valuable time and goodwill. When pressed on the identity, Fenech conceded that "big K" pointed to Konrad Mizzi, especially given the overarching backdrop of the Electrogas project.
A second piece of correspondence presented by the prosecution featured remarks from Michael Kunz, a project coordinator representing the Gasol faction of shareholders within the Electrogas consortium. Kunz's message questioned whether there were visible warning signs surrounding the venture, while emphasizing the importance of keeping someone styled as "special K" on their side and demanding strict confidentiality regarding the contents.
Prosecutor Cini pivoted from the emails to question Fenech directly about whether Keith Schembri ever participated in official Electrogas gatherings. Fenech acknowledged that Schembri occasionally sat in on rare meetings concerning the consortium.
The interrogation then turned back to the relentless investigative reports published by Daphne Caruana Galizia. Cini argued that as a leading director of the consortium, Fenech must have grown deeply alarmed over how confidential documents and internal data kept leaking to the journalist. Fenech downplayed any sense of panic, claiming he felt secure because he understood the inner workings of his own company, adding that he only realised she possessed actual data around December, at which point the consortium formally lodged a police complaint.
Cini suggested that this exact panic was the true catalyst behind the decision to commission the assassination. Fenech forcefully rejected the accusation, maintaining his innocence.
The prosecutor pressed further, bringing up financial flows linked to 17 Black and noting that the offshore entity had already transacted funds, including receipts from Orion Engineering. Fenech reiterated his adamant stance that the company operated entirely independent of Electrogas.
Before the witness could elaborate further, defence counsel Charles Mercieca stood up to interrupt with a legal objection, prompting the judge to immediately order the jurors to leave the courtroom while the matter was debated.
10:11 Yorgen Fenech doubled down on his denials, rejecting any connection between his offshore company 17 Black and the Electrogas energy consortium. He also firmly dismissed allegations that he had hatched a business conspiracy alongside Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi utilising their respective secret offshore structures - a financial nexus previously exposed by investigative reports revealing paperwork tying the entities together.
"I never did business with them," Fenech insisted from the witness stand. "I got to know about all this through the media."
Cini requested that a specific piece of documentary evidence be displayed on the courtroom screens: an email authored by Karl Cini of the firm Nexia BT, dated December 2015. The correspondence explicitly listed 17 Black as a primary target client designated to funnel funds into the Panama-based shell companies Tillgate and Hearnville, which were owned by Schembri and Mizzi, respectively.
Fenech brushed off the exhibit, maintaining his distance from the document. "I didn't write this email," he stated.
"So you, 17 Black, ended up as the main target client for Keith Schembri's Panama firm Tillgate and Konrad Mizzi's Hearnville. And you found out about that through the media," Cini said.
"Yes, through the media," Fenech maintained.
10:05 Prosecutor Godwin Cini presented yet another blog post penned by Daphne Caruana Galizia, this one dated May 25, which centered on mounting turbulence at the Electrogas energy consortium.
Fenech pushed back strongly, insisting that Electrogas and 17 Black were completely unrelated entities, dismissing them as "oranges and apples."
Cini pressed further, noting that the publication's fallout was severe enough to drive Fenech into direct contact with the CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority as well as Kenneth Farrugia from the FIAU.
"I felt I was being singled out," Fenech explained.
"You must have been going crazy when Daphne started writing these things," Cini remarked.
"Not at all. They didn't even ask me questions."
Cini then cited a second post from May 26, where the journalist referenced a Malta Independent story detailing alleged kickbacks tied to Electrogas.
"What kickbacks? 17 Black has nothing to with Electrogas. There is no connection," Fenech protested.
"You must have panicked," Cini suggested.
"Not at all. There was an electoral campaign."
9:53 Prosecutor Cini referred to a second blog post published by Daphne Caruana Galizia just five days after her initial exposé on 17 Black.
"On February 27, Daphne published another article about 17 Black. You must have been angry about it," Cini suggested.
"Not at all," Fenech replied.
The prosecutor read excerpts from that February 27 post, which highlighted then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's claims that he had no knowledge of the company. In the post, Caruana Galizia mocked the response, writing: "Oh, the poor thing. All he has to do is ring Kenneth Farrugia, the new boss at the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, or Lawrence 'Lorry' Cutajar, the Commissioner of Police. They'll tell him everything he claims not to know."
Cini seized on the mention of the FIAU chief: "We know you were in contact with Kenneth Farrugia. Eight days after this post, you changed 17 Black's name to Wings Development Limited."
Fenech acknowledged the corporate renaming, though he stated he could not verify the exact date.
When Cini asked if Caruana Galizia had ever contacted him directly, Fenech testified that they never spoke. Cini then pressed on whether the journalist had already been tracking him as early as April 2016. Fenech reiterated that she never called him.
9:48 Prosecutor Godwin Cini shifted the courtroom's focus toward the controversial offshore entity 17 Black, noting that while Daphne Caruana Galizia initially broke the story, Yorgen Fenech's ownership - along with financial documents linking the firm to offshore setups belonging to Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi - only surfaced a full year after her assassination.
Cini pointed out that prior to public exposure, Fenech had no visible connection to 17 Black, and banks remained unaware of his ownership as late as February 2017. The prosecutor then presented jurors with a screenshot of the journalist's very first blog post regarding the company, published on February 22, 2017, just weeks before the announcement of the 2017 general election.
Drawing attention to the comment section of that historical post, Cini read Caruana Galizia's direct declaration linking Fenech to the power station. While Fenech acknowledged remembering the remark, Cini noted that the exposure was disastrous for his corporate due diligence. Fenech countered by explaining how he believed the connection was made, revealing that he had previously travelled abroad to cover medical treatment for Schembri using corporate funds, which led to a leak of both medical records and payment details.
9:39 Prosecutor Godwin Cini shifted his cross-examination of Yorgen Fenech toward the allegation that former chief of staff Keith Schembri once handed Fenech a Reebok sports bag stuffed with physical cash. According to Fenech, the money was intended to help cover escalating extortion demands tied to an anticipated bail application for the Degiorgio brothers.
Recounting the timeline, Fenech testified that the drop took place around May 2018. By that stage, he claimed he had already funneled 50,000 euros to Melvin Theuma, but the hitmen were pressing for an extra 60,000 euros. Fenech stated he turned to Schembri when his own liquid cash ran dry, and Schembri readily agreed to supply the funds, adding that the specific brand of the athletic bag stood out in his memory only because he had not seen a Reebok logo in years.
Cini pressed Fenech on the financial dynamics. He highlighted that Fenech had previously told investigators Theuma's continuous demands forced him to call Schembri for backup. Fenech confirmed that Schembri was fully in the loop because he had originally pledged the money himself.
When Cini demanded to know the exact sum passed along, Fenech estimated it was between 75,000 and 80,000 euros. He stated he secured the cash in his personal safe and subsequently delivered 60,000 euros of it directly to Theuma.
"And once again ended up in between Keith Schembri and Melvin Theuma," Cini remarked.
"Yes, I had accepted to end up in that position," Fenech admitted.
"In a murder."
"No, after it."
9:29 Prosecutor Cini shifted the questioning toward the vast sums Yorgen Fenech allegedly handed over to Melvin Theuma following the assassination, noting that Fenech previously admitted to paying him between 400,000 and 450,000 euros after the fact under blackmail, purportedly meant for the hitmen.
Cini challenged the logic of the massive payout: "So to get rid of the issue, you paid half a million euro?"
Fenech attributed his decisions to his heavy substance use at the time, prompting Cini to retort, "So now we're blaming the drugs?"
Stung, Fenech fired back, "You humiliated me yesterday by showing those videos of me cooking up drugs."
Cini pressed on, summarising the contradiction: "So you gave Melvin Theuma €450,000 and had nothing to do with the murder."
Fenech maintained that he only forked over the cash to put an end to the ongoing extortion, insisting he bore no responsibility for the killing itself. When the prosecutor asked why Fenech never sought help from high-ranking police figures like Silvio Valletta or Ray Aquilina, Fenech stated he had no contact with Valletta and did not know Aquilina back then.
Cini pointed out Fenech's extensive connections with ministers and corporate chairs, highlighting chat logs as proof of his influence, and asked why he failed to report the blackmail or warn the victim's family that a 30,000 euro contract had been placed on her life.
"No, I didn't," Fenech admitted. "If I could turn back time I'd do many things differently."
9:26 Cini shifted his focus to Yorgen Fenech's assertion that former chief of staff Keith Schembri handed him a written guide detailing what to say to authorities upon his arrest - a document never released publicly that allegedly pointed the finger at former minister Chris Cardona, who has consistently denied involvement and never faced charges, though hitmen previously mentioned him in connection with an earlier, aborted attempt on Daphne Caruana Galizia's life.
Cini pressed Fenech on why he even contemplated utilising a prepared narrative that implicated someone else. Fenech explained that he was simply playing along with Schembri's instructions, holding onto the desperate hope that Schembri wouldn't ultimately betray him.
Persisting with the line of inquiry, Cini remarked that Fenech had clearly weighed using a fabricated playbook to pin the crime on another individual. Fenech remained firm, declaring he had zero doubts regarding Cardona's complicity.
9:22 Prosecutor Godwin Cini resumed his line of questioning by revisiting the video footage from the police interrogations that jurors had reviewed at the close of Tuesday's session. In those clips, Fenech claimed he handed Melvin Theuma 50,000 euros in cash after learning a 30,000 euro deposit had already been disbursed for the assassination, explaining that panic drove him to shut down the operation while ensuring Theuma did not suffer a financial loss.
Challenging this narrative, Cini highlighted that Fenech had no legal or financial obligations toward Theuma and maintained he was completely unconnected to the homicide. The prosecutor questioned why Fenech would voluntarily disburse 50,000 euros just to extricate himself, adding that this meant Fenech essentially gave Theuma a 20,000 euro tip on top of the initial deposit. Fenech defended his actions by characterizing Theuma as someone who would not lift a finger without getting paid, asserting that handing over the cash was the only way he could halt the conspiracy temporarily.
Cini then turned to the covert audio recordings captured by Theuma, observing that Fenech never once brought up the 50,000 euro payout across those conversations, nor did he ever challenge Theuma about dragging him into such a dangerous situation. Fenech dismissed this by claiming the court had only been shown a partial selection of seven audio clips. When Cini asked if Fenech had prepared by reviewing the recordings prior to trial, the accused shrugged off the need, stating that real-life experiences do not require studying.
9:10 Judge Edwina Grima enters court.