Two Brazilian women and an Italian man were arraigned on Wednesday and accused of involvement in human trafficking which saw women brought to Malta to work as cleaners, only to end up in prostitution.

Inspector John Spiteri said that investigations by the Vice Squad were triggered by a report about the suspected rape of two persons. When speaking to the police, the alleged victims hinted that this might be a case of human trafficking. 

Police surveillance and further information gathered from third parties led to the arrest of the two women, who are sisters, and the husband of the younger sibling. They are Luca Tavolaro, 50, his wife Jarleide Silva de Lima, 38, and Michely Silva de Lima, 39, all residents of St Paul's Bay. 

The married sister, appeared to be the spokesperson in bringing Brazilian nationals to Malta to work as cleaners. 

But when they arrived in Malta, they were exploited and ended up working as prostitutes. 

Further investigations showed that funds obtained through the illegitimate activity were laundered.

All three, who were also accused of living off the earnings of prostitution. pleaded not guilty. 

Witness says she came to Malta on tourist visa and it was her choice to work as escort

A Brazilian woman who was called to testify on Wednesday before being expelled from Malta as an irregular migrant, said that she travelled to Malta from Belgium four months ago on a tourist visa and worked here as an escort.

She said that she found this job on her own steam, on the Internet.

“I sell sex. I offer my services,” she explained through an interpreter. 

She said she had lived with one of the accused sisters and was put in touch with the other for money transactions. 

One of the sisters used to change euro currency to Brazilian currency to facilitate payments to the witness’s account.

The witness did not recall the exact amounts but said that sometimes she gave her some €1000 and got the equivalent in Brazilian currency. The transactions took place throughout April. There were two or three transactions. Some €1000 to €1500 in all. The witness then transferred the funds to her account in Brazil.

The accused knew that all the money that was channelled to Brazil came from her work as escort.

The witness said that she was now returning to Brazil.

Magistrate Elaine Rizzo ordered her to supply her number, email address and home address to the prosecution before leaving. 

Request for bail denied

During considerations of bail for the accused,  Inspector Spiteri said Jarleide was found guilty of similar crimes in Italy and that was why she came to Malta to continue what she was doing here. The fear of absconding, the fact that the case is still at an early stage and vulnerable victims still had to testify were all reasons for bail not to be granted. 

Defence lawyer Lennox Vella countered that the accused live in Malta and have children who are currently being cared for by the state while the parents are under arrest. 

Michely, he said, has a four-month old child. Jarleide and her husband have a child with special needs.

“This is unjust,” defence lawyer Ilona Schembri argued. 

And they were still presumed innocent, argued the lawyer. 

But the inspector said that one of the alleged victims had a severely disabled child and the money she earned through prostitution which was meant to be sent to her child, were kept by the accused. 

The court turned down the request for bail in light of the fear of tampering with evidence. The prosecution was urged to produce witnesses at the earliest opportunity.