Keith Schembri has said murder middleman Melvin Theuma could have taken a photo with him at Castille as part of an “intentional ploy”.

Testifying in court, the former OPM chief of staff recounted how Theuma had visited him at the start of 2017 to inquire about landing a government job.

He said such job requests were a regular occurrence, between five to ten times a day.

“I would have a list of people I was going to meet and Melvin Theuma was one of them,” he said. “I didn’t know what job he got or whether he went. He just asked me for a job – so I passed him onto customer care and then he chose a job.”

He said that, in hindsight, he believes Theuma could have taken the photo as an “intentional ploy”, recounting how the middleman had specifically asked for the photo to be taken near a photo of then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

“Thanks to COVID-19, I’ve spent some thinking and today I’m convinced that no one sent Theuma to Castille.”

“When he was arrested, he coincidentally had this photo, his job contract and his famous letter.”

Theuma was employed at the Housing Maintenance and Embellishment Co Ltd, which falls under the Family Ministry. However, the middleman, whose pardon hinges on him telling the full truth, confirmed under oath again that Fenech had set up his meeting at Castille and that he had specifically said he didn’t need or want a new job.