By Maya Galea

Copyright maltatoday

“Is K helping?” and “You be consulting a lawyer?”. These were among the many messages sent to Yorgen Fenech by Keith Schembri’s assistant in the run-up to the former’s 2019 arrest in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Charlene Bianco Farrugia, who was executive assistant to Schembri, the former OPM Chief of Staff, sent a message to Yorgen Fenech just hours before he was arrested on his yacht saying: “He told me that they’re following you.”

This emerged from messages that were presented in court as the compilation of evidence against Schembri continued yesterday. Schembri is being charged with leaking information from the Caruana Galizia murder investigation. Schembri is accused of perjury and breaching the Official Secrets Act. He denies the charges.

Bianco Farrugia testified that she occupied her role between 2013 and 2019, during which she reported directly to Keith Schembri.

During her testimony, she was presented with chat logs and asked to go through the chats page by page. She identified her phone number and confirmed that the exchanges were with Yorgen Fenech. Fenech is awaiting trial on charges that he masterminded Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Among the messages shown, Bianco Farrugia had written to Fenech: “You be consulting a lawyer?” to which he replied, “have Giannella.” ‘She then asked, “Is K helping or not?” and Fenech responded, “so far, but he is playing the game.”

Bianco Farrugia’s testimony was peppered with instances where she claimed not being able to recall the context in which those messages were sent. “I do not remember anything. I cannot recall what this was about,” she insisted. However, the witness confirmed that “K” referred to Keith Schembri.

Inspector Shaun Friggieri then pressed her to explain what she meant by asking whether “K” was helping or not. She responded that she had no further explanation. The court reminded her that she was testifying under oath. She repeated that she did not recall, but acknowledged that the messages indicated Schembri had been in contact with Fenech.

In another exchange, Fenech wrote, “He’s distancing himself,” to which Bianco Farrugia replied, “K? That’s not what he told me…”

On 18 November 2019, she also messaged Fenech saying, “K needs to talk to you”.

Another message dated 20 November 2019 at 4:13am showed Bianco Farrugia writing: “He told me that they’re following you.” In court, she explained that she only knew someone was following Fenech but was unaware of who or why.

The court questioned why she would send such a message at such an early hour. She simply said, “I wake up early”.

The court further asked why she relayed messages instead of advising Schembri to contact Fenech directly. She said she merely passed messages along, without thinking much of it or questioning the matter.

Questioned further, she was asked if she remembered what happened on the same day she sent the early morning message to Fenech. She replied: “Fenech was arrested.”

At this point, lawyer Franco Galea, who was representing Bianco Farrugia, requested permission to consult with his client. The court pointed out that she was appearing only as a normal witness and thus did not require legal assistance. Nonetheless, her lawyer asked that her testimony continue behind closed doors, away from the press and third parties. The court granted the request, and proceedings continued in private for a short while.

Former deputy commissioner testifies

Former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta also testified. Valletta recounted that whenever meetings were required to brief the prime minister on developments in the Caruana Galizia murder case, he would first inform Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, then contact Schembri to set up the meeting.

He confirmed that he eventually withdrew from the investigation after a court ruled that given his marriage at the time to then Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana, he had a potential conflict of interest.

Before this ruling, Valletta said, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi had approached investigators on behalf of convicted hitman Vince Muscat, who was seeking a presidential pardon. Valletta had even informed Schembri that they needed to discuss matters since someone was ready to reveal information about the Caruana Galizia case.

Johann Cremona, who has business interests in the gaming sector, also testified. He recalled being summoned to Castille by Schembri. At first, he thought the meeting concerned gaming matters, but then Schembri asked about Yorgen Fenech. Cremona’s companies had partnered with Fenech’s between 2011 and 2022.

Cremona also recalled a call from Kenneth Camilleri, a security aide to then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Camilleri knew Cremona through his father.

Following the call, Cremona had driven Camilleri to meet Melvin Theuma, the middleman who was eventually granted a presidential pardon to tell all on the Caruana Galizia murder.

Cremona said he waited in the car while Camilleri spoke with Theuma for around 15 minutes. When asked about his relationship with Camilleri, Cremona said they had not spoken for about five years before that encounter.

When asked why Camilleri had contacted him, Cremona admitted he had no idea and had not asked for an explanation.

Cremona recounted another instance when he overheard Theuma telling Camilleri, “get them bail,” which he later learned referred to Alfred and George Degiorgio, the brothers convicted of Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Inspector Shaun Friggieri prosecuted. The accused were represented by lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo, while lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia appeared parte civile.The hearing was presided over by Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit.

The case continues.