Former minister Chris Cardona allegedly tipped off the three men who are believed to have carried out the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia about their imminent arrests. 

Speaking in court today, Vince Muscat, who has pleaded guilty for his role in the murder, told the court that around two to three weeks before their arrests on 4th December 2017, Alfred Degiorgio informed him of the planned raid. 

Degiorgio told Muscat that he got the information direcly from Cardona. However, Muscat reiterated that he himself never spoke with Cardona. 

Muscat explained that Degiorgio told him that Cardona was fearful that he would be arrested and interrogated over his relationship with Degiorgio. 

The men put the time to good use, clearing out crucial evidence from the infamous potato shed. It has already been revealed that a mobile phone with Chris Cardona’s number was found in the sea by the shed.

They did eventually get anxious about the arrest and tried to locate Cardona and a high-profile lawyer who cannot be named by court order for more information.

“Once Alfred told me to go to the Siġġiewi bar where Cardona used to hang out. I don’t recall the name. It’s next to the parish church. However, I could not find either of them,” he said.

Muscat said that Cardona had leaked a wealth of information to the men, adding that the former minister even allegedly met with Degiorgio and provided him with information on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s whereabouts. 

According to Degiorgio, Cardona would message the high-profile lawyer, who in turn would get the information from then-Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta.

Valletta, who was leading the case into the assassination until he was forcibly removed by court order, has been linked to leaking information on several crucial aspects of the investigation.

The former minister has cropped up throughout the case. State witness Melvin Theuma has detailed a financial relationship between Cardona and  Degiorgio, suggesting he used middleman Tony ‘Il-Biglee’ Chetcuti to pass on payment.

More sensationally, Theuma said that Fenech claimed Cardona was so worried about the murder that he ended up hospitalised after an overdose on pills. Meanwhile, it’s also been claimed his relationship with Degiorgio included burner phones, family jobs, and a potential marijuana procurement license.

He was also thrown in the spotlight after Yorgen Fenech’s arrest when it emerged that a letter detailing his involvement in the killing was revealed as having been sent to Fenech by then OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri via their mutual doctor.

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