Second man arraigned over art theft

Ian Farrugia was yesterday remanded in custody after being charged with the theft of a Caravaggio and other paintings from Judge Giovanni Bonello's residence in Valletta.

Farrugia, 30, of Sta Venera was arraigned under arrest by Inspectors Geoffrey Azzopardi and Michael Mallia. He pleaded not guilty after he was accused of committing an aggravated theft of works of art valued at over Lm1,000 from 129, Old Bakery Street, Valletta on April 5 or some time before. He was further charged with damaging property, receiving stolen goods and relapsing.

Joseph Portelli, 32, of Birkirkara faced similar charges on Thursday last week.

Farrugia's legal counsel, Anglu Farrugia, contested his client's arraignment under arrest and the prosecution explained that Farrugia had been arrested and then released as the police were waiting for the results of "tests".

Once the results proved positive, the police had again arrested Farrugia and charged him under arrest yesterday morning.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Miriam Hayman, ruled that the police were justified in arraigning Farrugia under arrest.

The prosecution objected that Farrugia should be granted bail, referring to what the Attorney General wrote about the accused, saying the man could not be trusted and that his criminal record was proof enough of this. He did not cooperate with the police and could tamper with evidence or abscond.

Dr Farrugia argued that Farrugia's criminal record was relatively clean as he had only been found guilty of failing a breathalyser test and of insulting the Prime Minister and police officers.

He argued his client should not be denied bail simply because police investigations into the case continued and because he could tamper with evidence. The court could bar him from speaking to the people concerned.

Dr Farrugia said the police had Farrugia's fingerprints and thus there was no reason why he should not be granted bail.

The court ruled that Farrugia should be remanded in custody. In July 1999, Farrugia had been acquitted of the attempted murder of Richard Cachia Caruana, the personal assistant of former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.