Austrians injected man with "poison" and demanded money, court hears

Two Austrian men lured a compatriot off a main road, held his head in a vice grip and injected him with a substance, telling him he was being poisoned and only had hours to live unless he submitted to their demands.

Bernd Derrant and Marco Cristoph Martinz told Konstantinos Anastasiou they would give him the antidote if he gave them €25,000, €5,000 to go towards Martinz's travel expenses, but the antidote would also come at a price.

Anastasiou testified before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri in the compilation of evidence against Martinz, 25, and Derrant, 27, who are pleading not guilty to kidnapping him with the intention to extort money and threatening him with death in Maghtab on August 23 at about 1.30 a.m.

The two men were also charged with maliciously administering or causing Anastasiou to take a poisonous or noxious substance and using violence to compel him to do their bidding.

Derrant alone is also charged with the possession of a knuckle duster.

Anastasiou yesterday gave very detailed evidence, starting with how he met Derrant at the Hilton on Thursday to talk business related to the taking over of Castello Dei Baroni in Wardija by a Russian contractor.

Later that night, Derrant called him at his Wardija castle and asked to meet him at Portomaso because he was alone but Anastasiou did not go and told Derrant to phone him the next day after 4.30 p.m. because he was busy.

But the next day, Friday, Derrant turned up at his castle at 3 p.m. just as he was about to leave the house for a business meeting, Anastasiou said.

He told Derrant that he did not have time, gave him a lift to Portomaso and told him to phone him at about 7.30 p.m.

Derrant called him that evening to tell him that his (Anastasiou's) mother was arriving that same evening. Anastasiou said he found it strange because he thought she would arrive the following day.

Anastasiou explained that Derrant had a personal interest in his mother's arrival because she was to bring cash from Vienna and he wanted to be paid for an investigative job he had carried out for Anastasiou.

On Friday night he met Derrant at the Hilton at about 11 p.m.

"That was when I met Marco for the very first time. Mr Derrant told me that Marco had come to meet me because he knew of a discotheque in Sarajevo that was for sale at a very good price and had all the papers in hand."

The three men then went to a St Julian's bar for some time. Then they left and walked back to the Hilton where the car was parked. On the way, a taxi driver told them to go to Bugibba to find women.

They went to Bugibba but drove around for about an hour without finding the bar and decided to go home.

"On our way back to St Julian's Marco asked me to stop the car in a dark place because he needed to urinate so I stopped in Naxxar road.

"I thought that Marco, who was sitting behind me, was going to get out of the car but he held me back against the seat in an arm lock and injected me while Mr Derrant placed his fist against my chest.

"I could not speak and did not move because I was afraid. They told me that I only had hours to live unless I gave them €25,000, another €5,000 to cover the expenses incurred by Marco for the trip to Malta and another amount for the antidote," he said.

Inspector Saliba also testified yesterday and explained that, after recounting what happened in the car, Anastasiou told police that the story started when he contracted a security firm, where the defendants worked, to trace jewellery stolen from him in Vienna.

Anastasiou had paid the men €12,000 as down payment and was to give them another €12,000 when they found the stolen items.

But the police found the stolen jewellery and Anastasiou was not willing to pay them since they had not completed their job.

Anastasiou told police that the two men were to leave Malta on Sunday and they were arrested at the airport.

Police searched their luggage and found a grey pouch containing pills, syringes and a knuckle duster in Derrant's luggage.

"During questioning, the defendants denied their involvement in this conspiracy to kill Mr Anastasiou. Martinz said he had come to Malta to talk business with Anastasiou.

"He described the allegations as a very bad joke and said it was like a story taken out of a James Bond film," Inspector Saliba said.

Under cross-examination, Inspector Saliba said that Anastasiou had been taken to hospital and blood samples were taken for testing but the results had not been released.

He said he had been informed by Interpol that both men were known to the Vienna police. Martinz had been banned from carrying fire arms after being convicted for manslaughter and Derrant had been found guilty on injury charges.

As for Anastasiou, two warrants had been issued against him in connection with business-like fraud but both had been dropped.

He said that Anastasiou was a businessman and was investing in property in Malta.

He lived in a castle in Wardija and was in the process of buying a villa at High Ridge.

The case continues.