Magistrate Monica Vella handed a very extremely unusual sentence that liberated Keith Schembri and Melvin Theuma over fraud charges. Melvin Theuma was given a fraudulent phantom-job with the government by the then Chief of staff Keith Schembri. The Magistrate also took the very unusual decision of allowing Melvin Theuma not to testify in the case.
Melvin Theuma was the middle-man between Yorgen Fenech and the hitmen who killed the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The hitmen were also found guilty and handed life sentences in prison while Yorgen Fenech is about to go to trial on charges with commissioning the murder.
Melvin Theuma was given a phantom job with the Housing Authority, but the sentence shows that the fraud was even worse and more extensive: Melvin Theuma was once earmarked to work for the OPM. The case also belies everything that Keith Schembri had said about Melvin Theuma in public. Melvin Theuma and Keith Schembri are actually childhood friends and Keith Shcembri’s photo with Melvin Theuma wasn’t as Keith Schembri described, just a random encounter with one of the many fans. Keith Schembri was in contact with Melvin Theuma met him several times at Castille and also directly intervened to renew his salary after his salary was cut off. The evidence presented in Court shows a very blatant and clear intent to commit fraud with its whole execution from start to finish delineated in detail. The evidence of the case also shows extensive collusion of government officials such as Sandro Craus, who was been defended in this case by Charlon Gouder, with evidence of him fulfilling senseless orders in the conspiracy to commit the alleged fraud fraud.
The case couldn’t be more clear with the sentence itself delineating step by step, the process which was used to execute and commit the fraud. Despite all this evidence preented, the Court entered into some incomprehnsible legalese and concluded that there was no evidence presented that Melvin Theuma and Keith Schembri conspired “commonly” together to commit fraud. That’s right. The Magistrate basically said that Melvin Theuma, who he himself admitted that he was given a phantom job by Keith Schembri as part payment of his brokerage services with hitmen, was not conspiring with Keith Schembri to commit fraud.
Magistrate Monica Vella also concluded that Melvin Theuma never intended to defraud the government, despite pestering and threatening Keith Schembri to pay him his government salary when Keith Schembri was very much aware that Melvin Theuma was not showing up to work.
Bizarrely, the Magistrate’s sentence implies that although there was enough evidence showing that fraud was committed, there wasn’t enough evidence presented showing that there was an intention to commit fraud. My mind is blown by the sheer extent of legal obfuscation that the Magistrate has presented in order to ensure the liberation of one of Malta’s most dangerous organised criminals.
This sentence is scandalous an d should put more scrutiny on the Magistrate who is currently appealing her impeachment from the Judiciary.
You can read the Court sentence here.
The image below is not a random photo between a fan and the Chief of Staff. It’s a photo of old friends.
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