One of the alleged victims in a human trafficking racket told court on Wednesday her mother in Colombia had been told to caution her daughter against speaking to investigators.

She had also been promised that the alleged victims would be remunerated for their silence.

The woman was one of several victims who testified via video conferencing against eight men and a woman facing charges of human trafficking, money laundering, involvement in a criminal organisation, enticing South American women to travel to Malta for prostitution purposes and holding the alleged victims against their will. 

The accused include Luke Farrugia, 36, a self-employed maintenance worker from Birkirkara; Clint Lawrence D'Amato, a cab driver from Gudja; Denzil Farrugia, 19, a food shop employee from Sliema; Alexandra Suhov Pocora, 32-year-old Romanian from St Paul's Bay; Kane Vassallo, a 22-year old barber from Siġġiewi; Gordon Cassar, a 44-year-old maintenance worker from Kalkara; Luca Emanuele Corito, 21 from Senglea; Dylan McKay, a 30-year old taxi driver from Fgura and Nicolae Efimov, 37, from St Paul's Bay 

Identifying D’Amato as "Andrés - the person who set up appointments with clients and regularly ferried the girls to work appointments or shopping trips", the witness said he had immediately responded to her call for help.

It was her sister, who was also working as a prostitute, who told D’Amato about the "very bad pain" she was experiencing "in her private parts". She said the man “immediately” took her for emergency treatment.

“The pain was out of this world,” said the young Colombian woman when recounting the episode during her lengthy cross-examination.

D'Amato accompanied her to a private hospital where she was administered intravenous medication, prescribed other medicine and then discharged.

She covered the €250 hospital expenses and a further €80 for medication out of tips she had saved from clients. 

The day after she was discharged, she continued working as usual.

Viewing the courtroom through the monitor in the magistrate’s chambers, the witness also identified Suhov Pocora as “Baby - the woman who also drove the girls outside the apartment where they rendered their services". 

She identified Vassallo as “Tyson - who accompanied the girls on their outdoor trips". 

The woman recounted another episode about Farrugia, believed to be one of the masterminds behind the racket.

Referring to Farrugia as a “client” the witness identified the grey-suited man in court and recalled how one evening, she, her sister and fellow Colombian escort, were accompanied to Farrugia’s apartment at around 7pm. 

They ate and drank. 

Afterwards, their host had sex with the sisters’ colleague. She was paid for the service but the witness said she did not personally see any money. They were driven back to their apartment around midnight. 

'Do not say anything'

On Wednesday the witness also recounted how her mother back in her homeland had received a visit from a stranger after the police cracked down on the racket and arrested the female sex workers - including the witness - in Malta.

The stranger was a Colombian woman who was the alleged victims’ contact when they decided to travel to Malta to work as prostitutes. 

The mother later messaged her daughter explaining that they had been warned “not to say anything” and that “they would be paid” for their silence. 

When taken into police custody some two and a half months after her arrival, the witness said that at first she was “very scared and did not say anything”.  When shown pictures of the suspects, she opted not to single out anyone. 

But then she realised that since the police had seized the prostitutes’ phones and all the data they contained, investigators “had a lot of evidence against them”.

When asked about her experience, the woman said that at first she was “pressured to do this and that".

She was labelled as “stupid” and a “bitch” and told that “she was here to work as a prostitute".

“I knew what I was coming for but I didn’t know that I would not be allowed out, nor that I would not get the money.” 

'Probably owed €9,000 by bosses'

Under lengthy and at times animated cross-examination, prompting numerous interventions by presiding magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, the witness said she only got tips from clients. 

She reckoned that she was owed some €9,000 by her bosses, namely her 45% cut on her earnings. 

Her credibility was put to the test when defence lawyers flagged an Instagram reel the witness posted on May 1, weeks before her arrest. 

That video showed her and other co-workers “all happy”, brandishing shopping bags at Tigne Mall. 

Yet when testifying on Wednesday, she said she had only been to Tigne once, just three days before the arrests, pointed out defence lawyers Franco Debono and Mario Mifsud. 

“We have a witness who is being very economical with the truth,” said Debono, asking the magistrate to warn the witness that she was under oath and could face “consequences”.

That video clip triggered a long and heated verbal exchange between the defence and the prosecution, with inspector John Spiteri insisting there was clear and detailed evidence of every single instance that the witness exited the flat and in whose company she had done so. 

All that evidence was to be produced in the proceedings. 

'I was happy because it was my first outing'

Faced with that video, the witness said she “had forgotten” about that first visit to Tigne. 

All girls from both flats were taken on that outing around sunset.

“They called for us again late that evening,” she said.

She had bought a “not too expensive handbag,” shared a €60 bottle of wine with two other girls and got some shisha at a bar “for free”.

“I was happy because it was my first outing," adding she had been in Malta for one month. 

During Wednesday's marathon session, another alleged victim recalled how a flatmate had alerted the women to police presence outside their door. 

“Girls, girls! Police are here,” one of the victims had called after checking the CCTV monitor. 

Soon after, they heard a loud “boom” and the door to their flat was forced open. 

“I felt very bad… I was very nervous. In fact, I began to throw up,” recalled the witness. 

But once at the police depot, she was informed she was being considered a human trafficking victim. 

The case continues. 

AG lawyers Ramon Bonett Sladden and Charmaine Abdilla prosecuted together with inspectors John Spiteri, Joseph Xerri and Dorianne Tabone.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca, Roberto Montalto, Kathleen Calleja Grima, Joe Giglio, Michaela Giglio and Mario Mifsudn assisted various defendants.

Lawyers Lara Dimitrijevic and Stephanie Caruana appeared parte civile.