A man who was charged with money laundering in connection with a romance fraud scam had his assets frozen on Monday, as prosecutors say the case is still under investigation. 

Johnson Anene, a 41-year-old Maltese who was born in Nigeria, was denied bail by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, after having been extradited on the back of an international arrest warrant. 

He pleaded not guilty to a raft of money laundering charges, receiving stolen goods, and being a repeat offender. 

The prosecution said that  an arrest warrant for Anene was issued on January 29, 2021 as part of a money-laundering investigation However, when officers attempted to execute the warrant on February 8, they were unable to locate him and subsequently received intelligence that he had left Malta and was living in the UK. 

On April 25 the police were informed by Interpol that Anene had been arrested. 

No details of the romance fraud were given in court. 

The prosecution objected to bail citing the serious nature of the crimes that Anene had been accused of, the fact that he had broken the law before and that he was not living at his listed address in the UK, making it very difficult to locate him. 

“This man has broken the law before and he isn’t trustworthy,” Abigail Caruana Vella from the Attorney General’s office said. 

Representing the accused, Lawyer Rachel Tua said that Anene was not aware of the international arrest warrant issued for him, however, he had since not contested the validity of the arrest and had come willingly to Malta to prove his innocence. 

Whatsmore, Anene’s children and family members still reside in Malta and there is no fear of him absconding, she continued. 

“When it comes to the tampering of evidence, we have given full details to the police of the person we believe is the mastermind or the alleged scammer, let’s say,” Tua said. 

“We don’t want any tampering, we want the truth to come to light.”

The prosecution added that it was objecting to bail as from the ongoing interrogations, more people may yet be arraigned in connection with the same crime. 

The prosecution was led by lawyers Abigail Caruana Vella, Sean Xerri De Caro and Karl Muscat as well as inspectors Claire Borg and Sarah Kathleen Zerafa.

The accused was assisted by lawyer Rachel Tua.