Gaming consultant Iosif Galea, who was extradited from Germany last week and remanded in custody on Thursday, was visibly moved when a fresh request for bail was upheld at the start of proceedings against him on Wednesday. 

Galea, who is pleading not guilty to money laundering, financial crimes as a former public official and misuse of electronic equipment, sat at the dock following attentively as the compilation of evidence got underway. 

Inspector Marcus Cachia from the police cybercrime unit gave the court an overview of the investigations which kicked off following a story published by The Shift in December 2020 featuring a number of documents leaked from the database of the Malta Gaming Authority. 

That story had first triggered an internal investigation at the authority which pointed officials in the direction of then CTO Jason Farrugia as the only person who could have accessed those documents which fell outside his work remit. 

Farrugia was immediately suspended, his work accounts disabled and the police called in, kickstarting a magisterial inquiry and a twofold police investigation handled by the financial crimes and the cybercrime units respectively.

As police and court-appointed experts dug deeper, they uncovered a chat between Farrugia and Galea, who formerly worked at MGA. 

The two were planning business together.

“We’ll be losers if I’m suspended. Let’s think of other options… ran one of the messages (in Maltese) by Farrugia. 

Galea told Farrugia that he had checked with the police to find out whether Farrugia’s laptop had been seized in the investigation, while he and others were speaking to members of the corps in an attempt to block any further action.

Investigations traced “over 64,000 seconds of communication” between Farrugia and Galea. 

Meanwhile, following his suspension from work, Farrugia had allegedly still managed to access the authority’s system and downloaded files. 

Four accounts were reactivated by the suspicious user who gained a sort of “back door” access to the system, explained Matthew Busuttil, head of infrastructure and security at MGA, who also testified on Wednesday. 

Busuttil was one of three officials tasked with the authority’s internal investigation. 

The second one was Dennis Vella, manager data and records, who testified about his involvement following the leak that first came to light through the report by The Shift.

Galea had also transferred substantial sums of money to Farrugia and his wife who are both facing separate criminal proceedings over the same case. 

Galea’s lawyer, Edward Gatt, pointed out that both proceedings were almost identical and that those against the Farrugia couple were now at an advanced stage. 

Moreover, all evidence had been preserved not only by the authority, in its internal investigation, but also by the subsequent magisterial inquiry. 

The proces verbal from that inquiry was also to be produced in evidence in Galea’s case. 

MGA officials had since testified both at the inquiry as well as in the compilation of evidence against Farrugia, pointed out Gatt when making submissions on bail. 

Since his arraignment almost a week ago, nothing had changed “academically speaking”, and since the evidence was well preserved, how could there be tampering, questioned the lawyer. 

Moreover, since January 2022, Galea had been granted police bail. 

AG lawyer Francesco Refalo pointed out that bail conditions were to reflect the nature of the charges. 

After hearing submissions, the court, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, upheld the request against a number of strict conditions, including signing of the bail book three times a week, a deposit of €15,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000. 

The court warned Galea to observe all conditions “scrupulously” or face the legal consequences. 

The MGA, represented by lawyer James Baldacchino and assisted by lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, was admitted as parte civile in the proceedings. Inspector Brian Paul Camilleri also prosecuted.

The case continues in September.