Two police constables testified in court today how a police sergeant briefly disappeared after he was handed money seized from an Italian man during a search.

The officers were testifying in the case filed against Police Sergeant Luke Bugeja Persiano, who stands accused of stealing €1,700 from the Italian tourist.The incident happened during a search at the Shadow Lounge in Paceville as part of drug investigations earlier this month. The officers said that accompanied by the sergeant they went to the toilets of the establishments as part of the search. The Italian, who was found in one of the cubicles, started shouting and did not believe they were policemen since they were in plain clothes.They held his arms in order to stop him throwing anything away. The sergeant searched him and found a wad of banknotes which the Italian said he had won at a casino.
The Italian was arrested and taken outside where he was released.The Italian then asked for his money and also pointed out that the sergeant had disappeared with the money.The sergeant returned after a minute and handed cash back to the Italian, along with a mobile phone.The Italian immediately protested that he had had more money. He said he had won €3,000 but only €1,300 were being returned to him.The officers said the banknotes had not been previously counted. Nor had a receipt been given. Uniformed policemen then searched the plain clothes policemen but did not find the cash.While the searches were taking place, the sergeant again disappeared and returned shortly after. No more cash was found.The prosecution confirmed that no more policemen were to be charged over this incident.