BREAKING: Muscat Met Yorgen Fenech After Knowing He Was Main Suspect In Daphne Murder
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat met Yorgen Fenech after finding out that he was a key suspect in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Muscat, who has admitted to last seeing Fenech in November 2018, knew Fenech may have a had role to play for more than a year, also giving his now-arrested former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri unique access to the case.
This emerges from a Malta Today report, which quoted sources close to the murder investigation as stating that the Malta Security Services had been tapping Fenech’s phone for at least a year.
A warrant to phone tap someone’s phone goes directly through the Prime Minister and Home Affairs minister.
The issue was even flagged in a recent report from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)
With Schembri now under arrest in connection with the murder and sources detailing his intimate knowledge of the case, freelance journalist Mark Micallef has raised the issue that Schembri might have been privy to details and been freely allowed to manipulate the investigation.
The same report also claims that recordings of Melvin Theuma, the suspected middleman, show that Fenech the three men who carried out the assassination were paid €450,000.
Lovin Malta is informed that while Schembri doesn’t feature in the wiretap, he does appear in Theuma’s recordings.
The recordings, which were secretly taken by Theuma after the assassination had been carried out, have been handed to the magistrate.
The newsroom has asked Muscat to confirm whether he met Fenech after knowing he was the main suspect. He has not replied yet.
@JosephMuscat_JM knew Yorgen Fenech was key suspect in murder of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia for well over a year. During this time Keith Schembri – suspected co-sponsor in hit – was privy to investigation details and in a position to manipulate. LEAVE NOW.https://t.co/O9nXesB8XY
— Mark Micallef (@mmic78) November 28, 2019
By @JosephMuscat_JM own admission – in a comment to @BorgJake – he met with Yorgen Fenech in November 2018. At that point he had known for months this man was a prime suspect in the assassination of #DaphneCaruanaGalizia. #LeaveNow
— Mark Micallef (@mmic78) November 28, 2019
Yesterday, Lovin Malta revealed that Schembri is claimed to have used Fenech’s doctor, Adrian Vella, to pass on secret messages while the latter was under police bail at Mater Dei.
Schembri is believed to have been using Vella to pressure Fenech not to expose him in the case and other corruption cases.
Schembri is also under investigation for attempting to plot Fenech’s escape a week before his arrest.
When contacted by Lovin Malta earlier this week, Vella insisted that he had no relationship whatsoever with Schembri. However, a quick look on his Facebook page shows a wealth of photos of him blatantly promoting Rummo, the Italian pasta brand which is imported to Malta by Schembri’s group of companies.
Sources also revealed that Vella accompanied Schembri on several trips to the US to undergo cancer treatment.
Lovin Malta has also reported that Schembri was one of the last people Yorgen Fenech called before he tried to flee Malta on his yacht last week.
Meanwhile, sources also believe Schembri was keeping Fenech informed of developments in the case.
PN MP Jason Azzopardi, the lawyer of Caruana Galizia’s family, has even claimed that Schembri tipped off the three men accused of carrying out the crime of their imminent arrest.
Schembri has since resigned as the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff. However, Schembri was spotted at Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s house on the eve of his arrest.
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