Disgraced former Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri will face the public inquiry into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on Monday.

Schembri has been linked to the assassination ever since the arrest of Yorgen Fenech in connection to the murder.

Fenech has said Schembri was the real mastermind of the assassination plot, while several recordings of middleman-turned-state-witness Melvin Theuma have indicated that he was a major leak from the investigation.

Meanwhile, Theuma’s evidence box held a handwritten note naming Schembri as a co-conspirator and a photograph of the pair at Castille.

Schembri is currently out on police bail for two separate criminal allegations. The first involves kickbacks for Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, the other is potential trading in influence and money laundering with Fenech. Schembri was most recently investigated just yesterday.

It could be Schembri’s way out of testifying. Persons under criminal investigation are allowed to refuse to answer questions in the public inquiry. Former minister Konrad Mizzi did the same when he appeared before the board.

Fenech’s 17 Black was listed as the target clients for Tillgate and Hearnville, the two Panamanian companies owned by Schembri and Mizzi.

According to one e-mail found in the Panama Papers, Schembri and Mizzi were set to receive payments of up to $2 million from 17 Black.

Meanwhile, it has been recently revealed that Enemalta forked out €10.3 million to purchase a Montenegrin windfarm from a company linked to Yorgen Fenech.

Schembri also remains under investigation for his potential role in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and a potential attempted cover-up.

WhatsApp exchanges have also been laid bare. Fenech shared over 700 messages with Malta’s Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis between January 2019 and October 2019. There are also roughly 800 WhatsApp messages between Fenech and Schembri.

It has also been confirmed by inspectors that Muscat, Schembri, and Fenech had a shared WhatsApp group between themselves.

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