An Italian man who has been living in Malta for more than a decade could be jailed for almost nine years if he is extradited to his country where he is wanted for fraud and misappropriation.

A European arrest warrant was issued against Angelo Fregapane, 58, who lives in Qawra, after it was alleged that, between 1991 and 1999, when he was a company director, he had claimed bankruptcy to defraud creditors.

Deputy Attorney General Donatella Frendo Dimech has exhibited four judgments handed down by the Italian courts against Mr Fregapane.

She told Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna that Mr Fregapane would spend a total of eight years, 11 months and 20 days behind bars if extradited and found guilty. Mr Fregapane complained yesterday that prison staff had not allowed him to use the phone and so he could not inform his lawyer, Pawlu Lia, about the case. As a result, Dr Lia was not present yesterday.

He said prison warders told him that the police inspector leading his case had instructed them not to let him make phone calls.

When Dr Frendo Dimech said she knew for a fact that he had made phone calls while in jail, he admitted that he had called relatives in Italy but made no calls to Malta.

Dr Frendo Dimech said she would summon the inspector in question to testify about the “serious allegations” at the next sitting.