One of Malta’s most-wanted ‘con men’, Patrick Spiteri, a disbarred lawyer, appeared in a Maltese courtroom yesterday after having been extradited from the UK.
Mr Spiteri was arrested on Tuesday on the strength of at least seven European arrest warrants. In November 2014, he was arrested following an investigation by The Sunday Times of Malta that had tracked down the disgraced lawyer to a country mansion in an upmarket rural town in the UK.
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He appeared before magistrates Josette Demicoli and Consuelo Scerri Herrera yesterday morning, charged with misappropriation, fraud of some €7 million and the falsification of documents. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The court heard how he had pending criminal cases before another two magistrates, Antonio Micallef Trigona and Donatella Frendo Dimech.
He was arrested Tuesday on the strength of at least seven EU arrest warrants
Mr Spiteri’s lawyer, Stefano Filletti, asked magistrates Demicoli and Scerri Herrera for some time to acquaint himself with the cases, as he had not managed to go through all the documentation. For one of the cases alone, there were nine files.
Both magistrates upheld the request, but Magistrate Scerri Herrera warned the accused not to use any more delaying tactics. “He is your last lawyer, I’m not doing this again. I’ve started this case five times over,” she told Mr Spiteri.
Sources said the UK and Maltese police had tried to bring him to Malta twice before yesterday, but on both occasions, Mr Spiteri had managed to avoid the trip. On the first occasion, he escaped from custody, while the second time, he claimed he could not travel due to a medical condition.
In fact, Mr Spiteri was brought back to Malta on Tuesday after the Maltese police paid for a doctor to accompany him, once he was certified fit to fly and to stand trial.
Since October 2013, he had been presenting medical certificates that claimed he had multiple sclerosis and was unfit to travel to Malta for his court sittings.
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Dr Filletti did not file a request for bail, and Mr Spiteri was remanded in custody.
Police inspector Ian Abdilla, the head of the police fraud squad, prosecuted.
In May 2014, Magistrate Scerri Herrera postponed Mr Spiteri’s case indefinitely in which he was accused of defrauding an Italian businessman of almost €5 million.
Other cases in which Mr Spiteri is alleged to have swindled cash were also put off.