1. Schembri has been named as the leak on the investigation in recordings

Schembri has been name -dropped throughout state witness Melvin Theuma’s secret recordings of Fenech. At several points in time, Fenech claims that he was fed information on the investigation directly from Schembri and former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta.

These details included the arrest of the three men charged with carrying out the murder, a potential pardon to murder suspect Vince Muscat, information that their phones were wiretapped, and that Chris Cardona’s number was allegedly discovered on the phone of one of Daphne’s killers.

Chief Homicide Inspector Keith Arnaud has confirmed that Valletta had set up unprecedented briefings on the case with former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Schembri just a month after the murder. These briefings continued right up until October 2019, a month before Fenech’s eventual arrest.

Arnaud also confirmed that Muscat and Schembri were made aware of secret recordings and Fenech’s potential involvement by latest September 2018. Not once did Schembri inform investigators of his close relationship with Fenech.

2. Fenech called Schembri before trying to flee Malta

Right before he tried to flee Malta on his private yacht, Fenech called up Schembri and the conversation lasted around 24 minutes. In a previous court sitting, Schembri said he had received a message from Fenech asking whether “someone was after him”.

“I told him no, he called me and we spoke for a while,” Schembri said. “He told me that he wants to leave for two days to conduct repairs on his yacht in Sicily, so on and so forth. I spoke to him for a while. I asked him whether he thinks the time is right to leave the country as things stand? He said he has nothing.”

Questioned why he felt the need to ask Fenech whether “he felt the time was right”, Schembri said he knew Fenech was a suspect after reading media reports naming Melvin Theuma as the middleman.

“Can you imagine if he had left the country, and I’m not saying he was leaving the country, how Malta would have turned on us and told us that we had helped him escape? That was the reason why,” Schembri said.

3. Schembri had a ‘fraternal relationship’ with Fenech

Fenech himself has described his lifelong relationship with Schembri as ‘fraternal’ to the courts. In a secret tape, Fenech even said that he would call up Schembri practically every day. Schembri has even confirmed under oath that they were friends and had also holidayed together on occasion.

“Fenech and Schembri were so close that I automatically assumed he was involved,” Theuma has said on repeated occasions in court. However, this often came with the caveat that he could not confirm his involvement with absolute certainty.

“Fenech told me that Schembri had turned cold when he found out what Fenech had done,” he continued.

Despite their close relationship, Arnaud said that investigators were unaware that the pair knew each other so well.

4. Their secret WhatsApp group

The Tumas Group businessman’s relationships with top officials in the government have been laid bare to all during recent months. Fenech was invited to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s exclusive birthday party and had even passed on lucrative gifts.

Well-informed sources have confirmed the existence of the WhatsApp group between Fenech, Muscat, and Schembri. However, its contents are currently unknown.

5. Schembri was allegedly involved in the frame-up letter

In the height of the political crisis that erupted following Fenech’s arrest, sensational details emerged. Chris Cardona was immediately thrown into the spotlight when a letter detailing his involvement in the killing emerged.

It was later revealed to be nothing but a frame-up attempt from Fenech and Schembri through their mutual doctor Adrian Vella.

Vella has confirmed with investigators that he passed on several letters between Fenech and Schembri while the former was under police bail, including this one. However, he has maintained that he never read the contents.

Fenech has also said that the frame-up plot was Schembri’s idea. 

However, Cardona has said he very much doubts whether his former colleague was involved in this attempt to frame him up.

6. The lost mobile phone

Schembri was arrested the moment Fenech dropped the attempt to frame Cardona and gave up his longtime friend. However, the former chief of staff was given ample time to prepare.

The eve before his arrest, Schembri paid a late-night visit to Muscat. His phone, records show, was still on at this point.  This visit went unnoticed by investigators.

Just a few hours later Schembri seemingly lost his phone when police arrested him, even though he has told a constitutional court that it was always by his side.

Investigators were able to seize any other electronic devices, but his mobile remains lost. Schembri’s Castille office was also unexplainably left unguarded for close two weeks after his arrest.

7. Melvin Theuma’s phantom job

Theuma has testified in court that he was given a false government job shortly after arranging the price to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He said that Fenech had told him to await a call from Sandro Craus, the head of customer care at Castille. Craus then invited him to Castille to meet Schembri. It was then when the infamous photo of Theuma and Schembri at Castille was taken.

Theuma was granted the government job. Government records show that Theuma was employed as a messenger/driver at the Housing Maintenance Embellishment Co Ltd, a government company that falls under the Family Ministry, which Michael Farrugia was responsible for at the time.

However, even Theuma has said he never showed up for the job and didn’t even know what the ‘job’ entailed.

8. Kenneth ‘From Castille’ Camilleri

Recently, Fenech’s business partner Johann Cremona confirmed Theuma’s claims that former OPM Security Official Kenneth Camilleri met with him on at least three occasions to discuss details from the murder, and in particular a bail plot for the three men charged with carrying out the murder.

While at Theuma’s home, Camilleri called up someone, after which he told Theuma to inform the men charged with the murder of Caruana Galizia that they will get bailed out on the 22nd of that month.

Theuma said that while he didn’t eavesdrop on Camilleri’s conversation, he suspected he was speaking to Keith Schembri because the two of them both worked at Castille.

Theuma said that on one occasion Camilleri also brought out a piece of paper with three mobile numbers written on it, one of which was his [Theuma’s] old mobile number.

9. Melvin Theuma’s handwritten letter

A handwritten letter by Theuma discovered in his evidence box for police named Schembri and Fenech as the people who planned the assassination.

“This is Melvin Theuma. I am passing on the information that I was the middleman in the case of Mrs Caruana Galizia. I am sending this evidence so you’d know who employed me and paid for the bomb,” the letter begins.

“I’m doing this because I realised that the same two people, Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri, are working to get rid of me as well.”

Theuma had included other evidence with the letter – including the recordings and the photo of himself with Schembri inside Castille.

However, in court Theuma has said he personally didn’t have first-hand knowledge that Schembri was involved, but he “thought it was the case” and decided to name him.

10. Potentially lying under oath

On 18th December 2019, Schembri told the courts under oath that he coordinated the FBI’s involvement in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation.

“[I brought people in to help with the case] Like the FBI, for example. After Ms Caruana Galizia was killed, within the first 20-25 minutes, I told the Prime Minister that I will speak to the US Embassy to find out what assistance they can offer.”

“The Prime Minister said from day one that he will leave no stone unturned. We spoke to the US embassy, and I made that call. They informed me that FBI officials were in Rome and told me that, if I made the necessary arrangements, they could arrive in Malta the next morning,” Schembri said.

However, several have rubbished his claims. Former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar has confirmed this is “absolutely not the case”, while Lovin Malta has revealed the request was actually made by Superintendent George Cremona, who is the Head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit & Criminal Intelligence Unit.

11, He dropped his 17 Black libel suit the moment he was forced to answer questions 

Months before his arrest, Schembri dropped his libel suit against former PN Leader Simon Busuttil the moment he was asked to speak about 17 Black, Fench’s Dubai-based company that was listed as the target client for Schembri’s Panama accounts.

Schembri did all he could to avoid answering questions on 17 Black – and immediately dropped the suit once the court ordered him to answer.

A report by the FIAU found that 17 Black had received at least three payments – one of €161,000 from Maltese local agent for the tanker supplying gas to the LNG power station and two separate payments amounting to €1.1 million from Baratzada through ABLV Bank. 

ABLV was recently raised in one of Latvia’s most extensive investigations into money laundering yet.

17 Black was recently found to have earned €4.6 million from Enemalta’s purchase of a wind farm in Montenegro.

12. Schembri was arrested 

Let’s not forget that Schembri has already been arrested in connection with the case. He was released two days after – not before dropping in threatening measures to cabinet members, namely current Prime Minister Robert Abela, while they were discussing Fenech’s potential pardon.

Schembri remains firmly under investigation. In a previous sitting, Chief Homicide Inspector Keith Arnaud said Schembri was under investigation over a litany of offences which include:

Tampering with evidence, leaking extensive information about the investigation, obstructing justice, and acquiring a phantom job for middleman Melvin Theuma.

Despite this, Schembri was allowed to travel unperturbed while remaining under suspicion.

13. Joseph Muscat said Schembri betrayed him 

Following a meeting with an MEP delegation who came down to Malta during the political crisis, Muscat said he was “betrayed” by Schembri. This sentiment was echoed by most remaining public figures in the Labour Party.

However, this still did not stop him from publicly thanking him for his service” the day of his resignation and his relationship with Schembri continues.

No one has precisely said why they feel betrayed, but it’s clear they must all be aware of Schembri’s relationship with Fenech and how he was able to compromise the government.

Whatever the case, Schembri certainly has a lot to answer for and you can follow it all live on Lovin Malta on Monday 22nd June at 1oam.

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