Chris Cardona Is Minister Allegedly Implicated By George Degiorgio In 2015 Plot To Murder Daphne Caruana Galizia
Chris Cardona is allegedly the former minister who has been implicated in a plot to assassinate journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia two years prior to her initial murder.
George Degiorgio, one of the hitmen who confessed to the murder in an interview, claims that he is willing to provide information to authorities concerning the involvement of a top politician in a separate plot to murder the journalist.
Sources told Lovin Malta that Degiorgio has already referenced Cardona, echoing statements given under oath by Vince Muscat, the other hitman who has already pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder.
However, authorities are reportedly concerned over the evidence Degiorgio has in his possession and are reluctant to act on his testimony alone, particularly in the context that a life sentence already looms over the murder suspect.
The brothers have requested pardons in order to reveal the identity of an as-yet-unidentified mastermind in the murder, who they claim to have been a sitting minister at the time. They also claim they are ready to provide information on crimes relating to aggravated theft and homicide, by naming two masterminds.
These requests have been routinely denied with a lack of evidence being a primary reason.
Degiorgio has said that he is willing to name others, but once again, there are concerns over a lack of evidence.
However, Muscat told the court that sometime during 2014 and 2015, criminal lawyer and Cardona associate David Gatt descended upon the infamous Marsa potato shed with the proposal to murder Caruana Galizia for the Degiorgio brothers and himself.
At the time, the journalist had written about Cardona over his rent-free stay in a Portomaso apartment owned by Silvan Fenech, a cousin of Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind in the Caruana Galizia assassination. She had not yet written about Cardona’s infamous visit to a German brothel.
A price was allegedly agreed, with the men demanding €150,000 for the hit, with €50,000 deposit, the same rate they offered to Fenech through Melvin Theuma.
George Degiorgio allegedly pressed Gatt for a deposit, but it was never paid and the hit was called off.
Jamie Vella, who has since been charged with supplying the bomb which killed Caruana Galizia in 2017, was also part of the plot, showing them where Caruana Galizia lived.
Vella has since demanded the full publication of Degiorgio’s interview.
Cardona has also been linked to the 2017 plot with claims that he leaked a wealth of information to Alfred Degiorgio, one of the men charged with assassinating Caruana Galizia.
This included details like Caruana Galizia’s whereabouts in the lead-up to her murder and the imminent arrests of Muscat, Degiorgio, and George Degiorgio.
According to Degiorgio, Cardona would message the high-profile lawyer, who in turn would get the information from then-Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta.
Cardon has always vociferously denied the claims.
This is not the first time Cardona has been featured in the case. He was first thrown in the spotlight after Fenech’s arrest when it emerged that a letter detailing his involvement in the killing was revealed as having been sent to Fenech by Schembri via their mutual doctor.
Meanwhile, Theuma has already detailed an alleged financial relationship between Cardona and Degiorgio, suggesting he used middleman Tony ‘Il-Biglee’ Chetcuti to pass on payment.
He claimed that the relationship with the Degiorgios stretched back a year and included burner phones, family jobs, and a potential cannabis procurement license.
More sensationally, Theuma said that Fenech claimed Cardona was so worried about the murder that he ended up hospitalised after an overdose on pills.
What do you think of Degiorgio’s claims?
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