The Maltese businessman accused of commissioning the 2017 car-bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia took the stand to adamantly deny ordering her death, even as he admitted to delivering tens of thousands of euros to the plot’s middleman and passing along leaked police intelligence.
«I never ordered the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia,» the defendant, Yorgen Fenech, told jurors during four days of testimony. «I had no involvement. Zero.»
Fenech, 44, former chief executive of the Tumas Group and a major shareholder in a state power consortium, unexpectedly waived his right to remain silent to deliver his first public account of the crime since his 2019 arrest. He claimed Keith Schembri, the influential former chief of staff to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, framed him.
Schembri, who testified earlier in the trial, has denied any involvement, and police told jurors he was never considered a suspect.
According to Fenech, the conspiracy began in 2016 when he hosted a dinner at his ranch right after Schembri returned from the U.S. and was diagnosed with cancer. After talking about a blog post by Caruana Galizia regarding the illness, the middleman, Melvin Theuma, allegedly offered to find hitmen to «get rid of her.»
Fenech testified that after learning a plan was underway, he handed over 50,000 euro to Theuma — claiming the payment was intended to halt the contract rather than fund it. He also acknowledged serving as a channel through which another 450,000 euro flowed to cover the hitmen’s legal expenses after the murder, while insisting he was merely being blackmailed.
Under cross-examination, Fenech’s attempt to place sole blame on Schembri faltered. Pressed by prosecutors on whether he had direct proof of Schembri’s role, Fenech admitted his claim rested on statements by Theuma, conceding by his final day on the stand that he could not swear to it «100 percent under oath.»
Prosecutor Godwin Cini focused heavily on 17 Black, a Dubai-based shell company owned by Fenech that Caruana Galizia exposed in early 2017. Leaked financial records previously revealed that 17 Black was designated to pay millions into Panama companies owned by Schembri and former Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi.
All three men were charged with money laundering and corruption in connection with 17 Black in February 2025.
Confronted with confidential Europol files and internal police documents recovered from his phone, Fenech admitted he had passed advance warnings of police raids to Theuma, claiming Schembri had supplied him with the leaks.
Reconstructing Fenech’s admissions — from hearing of the plot and supplying cash to leaking investigative updates — Cini rejected the defense’s narrative of an innocent bystander.
«Who are you trying to fool?» Cini asked the defendant. «Your fingerprints are all over this.»
