A Santa Venera couple was denied bail on Wednesday after a court heard how a police sting found that they had been allegedly running a brothel in Marsascala.
Duncan Caruana, 35, and his wife Francesca, 29, who said she runs a childcare centre, were arraigned before Magistrate Rachel Montebello, accused of human trafficking, running a brothel and living off the proceeds of prostitution.
The prosecution requested a freezing order on the assets of the accused.
The court denied a request from the defence to ban the publication of the accused's names.
The court heard from the prosecuting inspector how the police had received information about a brothel in Marsascala and after observing the location for some time, it resulted that several men were seen going in and out of the premises.
After obtaining a warrant, police entered the building and arrested three women. Two were South American who came to Malta of their own volition with the intention of staying for 15 days to make money out of prostitution.
However, the third woman was found to be a victim of human trafficking and no charges were being brought against her.
During the raid, the police also discovered that the accused, Duncan Caruana was on the premises and oversaw payments.
The brothel, the inspector continued, was charging clients €50 for half an hour and €100 for an hour with the women there.
The police later realised that Caruana’s wife, Francesca, was involved in the racket and would set up the meetings with potential clients and would tell the women when to open the door for them via text message.
Magistrate Rachel Montebello accepted a request from the prosecution to hear the emergency testimony of the two women found at the brothel, in view of the fact that they were being deported to their country later this evening.
The rest of the sitting was heard behind closed doors, as the two women testified via video link with the help of a translator.
The prosecution was led by Nathaniel Falzon and Ramon Bonnett Sladden from the Attorney General’s office while the couple were represented by lawyers Edward Gatt, Mark Vassallo, Ismael Psaila and Shaun Zammit.