A decision on bail in money laundering proceedings against Yorgen Fenech was postponed to another date after the prosecution objected that there were civilian witnesses still to testify. 

The ex-gaming magnate was back in court on Thursday in the ongoing compilation of evidence where he is pleading not guilty to misappropriation and fraud to the detriment of Glimmer Limited, a company he owned with his uncle Ray. 

He stands accused of fraud and attempting to launder a total of €45,000 in a case involving four other alleged associates: Glimmer Ltd’s chief operating officer Patrick Demanuele, company director Anthony Farrugia, and father-and-son Joseph and Nicholas Cachia. 

A manager handling business-to-business operations at Portomaso Gaming and former IT manager at Glimmer Ltd testified that he had taken over as director at Glimmer Ltd in December 2019.

The company had surrendered its licence in 2019, before he took over, said Edgar Portelli, explaining that for that reason he did not know why the licence had been surrendered. 

While working as IT manager, the company’s internal auditor had requested documentation about some bonuses paid to Nicholas Cachia.

The auditor checked those documents and concluded that the company procedures “had worked.”

'No connection between Tumas Gaming and Glimmer Ltd'

Asked whether there was a connection between Tumas Gaming and Glimmer Ltd, the witness said that there was none. 

Earlier on, a representative of the Commissioner for Revenue presented tax audit reports of Nicholas Cachia and his company Technovet Ltd, covering both VAT and Income Tax.

As the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, heard submissions on a pending bail application filed by Fenech’s lawyers, the prosecuting lawyers raised objections about the risk of absconding, the gravity of the charges and the issue of public disorder. 

"Where does that feature," asked the magistrate, with reference to the notion of public disorder, underlining the fact that this was “strictly” a case on alleged money laundering.

Other people involved in the same allegations had since been granted bail and moreover, the amount involved made this one of the lowest values in money laundering proceedings, the court said.

As for the perceived risk of absconding, the prosecution argued that Fenech had ties abroad but the court stressed that the prosecution had to prove this and the risks presented by such ‘connections.’

“I urge you once again to give me facts to show what these fears are,” said the magistrate.

There were also civilian witnesses to testify, pointed out the AG lawyers, prompting the magistrate to question why those witnesses had not been summoned at Thursday's hearing, which had been purposely scheduled to tackle the accused’s bail request. 

In view of this, defence lawyer Charles Mercieca requested the court to postpone a decision on bail until that evidence was put forward by the prosecution.

The court thus adjourned the case to next week allowing the prosecution “one last chance” to bring those witnesses to testify before proceeding to decide upon bail. 

AG lawyers Marthese Grech and Cinzia Azzopardi Alamango assisted Inspector Brian Paul Camilleri as prosecutors. Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Charles Mercieca and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.