Claim: TikTok videos show that Lilu King is no longer in custody

Verdict: The videos were originally posted to Instagram before Lilu King’s arrest in May. He remains in custody and was denied bail on Thursday.

Recent TikTok videos of Lilu King partying and flaunting his luxury cars were originally posted on Instagram before the social media personality was arrested earlier this year.

Mohamed Elmushraty, known as Lilu King, has been in custody for over three months, after he was arrested and charged with money laundering in late May.

In early August, a TikTok account using Lilu King’s nickname began posting a series of videos, seemingly in an attempt to suggest that he is no longer in custody. A total of 18 videos were posted, starting on August 8.

In these videos, Lilu King can be seen walking around several localities across Malta, partying and riding a jetski, amongst other things.

The videos were shared across several Facebook groups, including several groups known to stoke anti-foreigner sentiment, leading some to express their outrage at Elmushraty's apparent freedom.

However, each of these videos dates back to a time before Elmushraty’s arrest.

One video intersperses a short clip of two men on a jet ski (neither of which appears to be Elmushraty) with photos of him riding a similar-looking jetski that were uploaded to Instagram over a year ago.

A recent video uses this photo of Elmushraty on a jetski, first posted a year ago. Photo: Instagram

Another shows Elmushraty walking down Valletta’s Strait Street accompanied by another man, both wearing winter coats. The video was first uploaded to Elmushraty’s Instagram account in January.

A video posted to Instagram in January was recently posted on TikTok. Photo: Instagram

A similar pattern can be spotted across each of the TikTok videos posted over the past weeks. In each case, an old video from Elmushraty’s Instagram account was re-uploaded, designed to appear as though it were new.

The TikTok account being used to post these videos appears to have been created in recent weeks and has not shared any other content aside from these videos.

The account bears several hallmarks of fake profiles. It had never posted any content before these recent videos, does not follow any other TikTok users and does not appear to have any links to other social media accounts.

Bail

This disinformation campaign coincided with Elmushraty’s latest appeal for bail, which was turned down by the courts on Thursday.

While arguing for bail to be awarded, Elmushraty's lawyer Franco Debono obliquely referenced these posts, saying "as far as I know, showing off on social media is not a crime”. 

The issue of bail has once again come under the spotlight in recent weeks with the disappearance of Jomic Calleja Maatouk leading to renewed calls for electronic tagging of persons out on bail.

Verdict

The videos being shared on TikTok over recent weeks were previously uploaded to Elmushraty’s Instagram account before his arrest in May.

The TikTok account sharing the videos appears to be a fake profile that was only created in recent weeks. It has not shared any other content aside from these videos.

This claim is therefore false, as the evidence clearly refutes the claim.

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