A man who allegedly drained an elderly woman’s bank account of some €21,500 in a new case of romance fraud was denied bail on Tuesday.

Godonu Dele, a 29-year old Nigerian resident in Qawra, was accused of money money laundering and handling stolen goods after police investigations against three other suspect fraudsters arraigned at the weekend had branched off in his direction.

He was allegedly involved as middleman in defrauding the elderly victim.

He pleaded not guilty.

His legal aid lawyer, Yanika Bugeja, informed the court that no request for bail was being made at the arraignment stage, since there were a number of civilian witnesses still to testify.

That request would be reserved to a later stage, the lawyer said.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli upheld the prosecution’s request for a freezing order over all assets, both movable and immovable, of the accused who was remanded in custody.

Inspectors Sarah Zerafa and Claire Borg prosecuted together with AG lawyers Sean Xerri de Caro and Karl Muscat.