Times of Malta journalist Jacob Borg has quashed a rumour that he had reported Yorgen Fenech to the authorities after spotting him sail away from Portomaso in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The rumour has been making the rounds in discussions about the investigations, with people warning that Fenech would have escaped the island had it not been for the journalist’s timely intervention.

Some have also suggested that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s statement that he intends to offer an alleged middleman a conditional presidential pardon was actually a coded message for Fenech to escape.

However, Borg told Lovin Malta that he categorically denies having reported anything to the authorities.

Fenech sailed out of the Portomaso Marina in the early hours of Wednesday morning but was apprehended by army vessels off the coast of Pembroke and was arrested shortly afterwards. If no one had informed the authorities when Fenech’s yacht sailed off, that would mean that they had been informed in advance.

Fenech is currently in police custody in connection with the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and he has requested a presidential pardon in return for information.