Restaurant owner granted bail in €2.4 million VAT fraud case
Italian national says he was in talks with tax authorities when he was extradited to Malta
An Italian restaurant owner accused of defrauding tax authorities of €2.4 million has been granted bail.
Giuseppe Napolitano, owner of the Storie & Sapori restaurant chain, was extradited from Italy to face money laundering and VAT fraud charges.
He was remanded in custody on July 11 after pleading not guilty to the charges.
Napolitano was granted bail by Magistrate Leonard Caruana on Friday against a deposit of €10,000 and a personal guarantee of €50,000.
He is forbidden from travelling abroad or approaching prosecution witnesses.
Investigators have detailed how €1.6 million in suspect transactions were carried out at Napolitano’s St Julian’s restaurant.
Prosecutors allege Napolitano also left Malta with outstanding tax liabilities of over €2 million.
Defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi has previously told a court that Napolitano was in discussions with the tax authorities to regularise his position, using a controversial law allowing tax crimes to be settled out of court.
Lawyers Kris Busietta and Alessandro Farrugia also appeared for Napolitano.