A man convicted of money laundering and defrauding a government department has been given back access to his bank accounts and wealth, with a civil court however deciding to hold onto a Toyota car he owned.

Francis Caruana, 61, was originally sentenced to four years in prison after he admitted to money laundering and defrauding the Fisheries Department, where he worked. A court found that he had effectively pocked €32,000 in department money and also failed to declare that money in his tax returns. 

His prison sentence was converted to three years of probation on appeal, with that court hearing that Caruana had since refunded the money to the department. 

Caruana’s lawyers subsequently filed a civil case to have a freezing order applied to all his property and wealth lifted. 

His lawyers, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, argued that it was unjust to freeze all his wealth. The freezing order should have only covered the amounts being contested and Caruana had since refunded the money, they argued. 

Judge Miriam Hayman noted that deposits made to his bank accounts were too infrequent to suggest that they were the proceeds of crime, and ordered that Caruana be given access to his bank accounts. 

The court also lifted a freezing order on a house in Marsaxlokk and an apartment in Gozo that he owns. 

However, it noted that Caruana had bought a Toyota Yaris car during the time when the crimes were committed and had only provided evidence that some of the money used to buy the car came from legitimate sources. 

It therefore denied a request for the car to be released. Caruana’s lawyers are expected to appeal that decision.