Melvin Theuma was told freemasons had to pay €100,000 for Caruana Galizia murder

Pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma had been told that an individual involved in freemasonry had to pay Vince Muscat €100,000 for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Theuma was testifying on Tuesday in the compilation of evidence against alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

The court continued hearing recordings of conversations Theuma had with Fenech’s business associate Johann Cremona.

Expanding on the recordings, Theuma testified that an individual, who cannot be identified on court order, had to hand over €100,000 to Muscat, known as il-Koħħu. The money purportedly came from freemasons and was payment for Caruana Galizia’s murder.

However, the money was never delivered because Muscat was eventually arrested and charged with Caruana Galizia’s murder along with brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio.

Earlier this year, Muscat admitted to the murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a plea bargain agreement.

Theuma insisted in court he had no first-hand knowledge of this transaction and only got to know about it through Cremona.

The implication is that there may have been other people who paid to have Caruana Galizia murdered, apart from Fenech, who Theuma has always identified as the sole mastermind known to him.

“Johann told me that [Omissis] was appointed by the freemasons to take €100,000 to Koħħu,” Theuma told the court.

Theuma added that Cremona had claimed that [Omissis] caused him a lot of damage by identifying Theuma and speaking to Europol and the Caruana Galizia family.

In another recording heard in court, Theuma claimed that [Omissis] was with Cardona, understood to be former economy minister Chris Cardona.

Theuma specified in court that [Omississ] was close to Cardona and il-Koħħu had spilt the beans to “protect those who had commissioned him”.

The witness also said that Cremona had told him to pin the murder on Cardona, even though he [Theuma] did not know the former minister and people close to him.

Theuma also testified how Fenech was “worse off than him” after the murder and turned to cocaine for solace.

In one of the recorded conversations, Theuma told Cremona that Fenech would not bring Caruana Galizia back by resorting to “coke”.

Theuma said that a reference in the recording to a “Fredu”, was Fenech telling him to get Alfred Degiorgio to get on with the murder.

Towards the end of the sitting, Theuma was admonished by the magistrate for the confusing testimony he was giving at times. Magistrate Rachel Montebello warned him that perjury was a crime.

Earlier, an expert from Europol testified on the procedure used to extract the data from Fenech’s mobile phones confiscated by the police.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist, died in a car bomb explosion outside her home in Bidnija in October 2017.

Courtroom players

Magistrate Rachel Montebello is presiding.

Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra are prosecuting, aided by Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia.

Fenech’s defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family. Lawyers Kathleen Calleja Grima and Matthew Brincat are assisting Theuma.