Repairs on a Mini Cooper, free meals at a Buġibba restaurant and a free CCTV system were among the items mentioned in court yesterday linking former judge Ray Pace with two men suspected of bribing him.

Police Superintendent Paul Vassallo told the court that the police had “a straightforward case”, with evidence that showed the links.

He said the police had recordings of phone calls intercepted by the Malta Security Services including one between the former judge and Sandro Psaila, one of the accused. In it, Dr Pace informs Mr Psaila of an 18-year jail term handed down to drug dealer Darren Desira, who last month admitted to importing cocaine in 2002.

Supt Vassallo was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Raymond Caruana, a 51-year-old truck driver from Żebbuġ, and 40-year-old Mr Psaila, a restaurateur of Valletta who lives in Manikata. They stand charged with complicity to bribe the judge.

Dr Pace, who resigned as judge last Saturday saying his position was no longer tenable, stands charged separately with bribery, conspiring to commit a crime and trading in influence.

Testifying before Magistrate Edwina Grima, Supt Vassallo said the former judge received favours in the form of free meals, free repairs on his wife’s Mini Cooper and a CCTV system installed at his house. These were funded by Mr Psaila and Mr Caruana, he said.

He used to “eat for free” at The Steak House, a restaurant Mr Psaila partly owns in Buġibba.

‘Straightforward case’

Evidence the police had in hand showed that Mr Psaila arranged with the former judge to install CCTV protection on his house and on a garage which Dr Pace used to breed birds.

There was also evidence that showed how Dr Pace had his wife’s Mini Cooper repaired for free, the superintendent said.

Asked directly if there was evidence showing money had exchanged hands, Supt Vassallo said that at the end of the conversation in which Dr Pace informed Mr Psaila about Mr Desira’s jail term, Mr Psaila said: “OK good, then I’ll give them to you.” He said it was not clear what he was referring to.

During yesterday’s sitting, it emerged that investigations had been going on since August, with two warrants to tap Mr Psaila’s phones signed on the 17th and 24th of that month.

Warrants to tap Mr Caruana’s phone were signed on August 24 and again on November 29.

Security Services head Godfrey Scicluna submitted two unique-copy CDs containing intercepted telephone calls on Mr Psaila and Mr Caruana’s phones. These include calls made by former judge Pace to both men.

Also testifying yesterday was Clinton Grima, an importer of second-hand cars, who told the court that 18 months ago he had sold a Mini Cooper to Lynn Pace, Dr Pace’s wife, for €13,500.

He explained that he had an agreement with another man – from whom he had bought a garage and to whom he owed money – to part exchange the garage for cars.

After he sold the car to Ms Pace, he received a phone call from this man who told him that the money paid by the judge’s wife would be deducted from what he was owed for the garage.

The court was told that the connections between Mr Caruana, Mr Psaila and Dr Pace involved other people as well, and they included mechanics.

A mechanic, Joseph Borg, said Ms Pace’s Mini Cooper had developed a fault which he had repaired for €1,300. Mr Caruana collected the car in the company of a “ginger man with a moustache” and told him he would pay him later.

Another mechanic, David Sammut, said Ms Pace had brought the car to his garage because it would not start but he had no time to repair it. The car was picked up by Mr Caruana and “someone with glasses” who used a tow truck to take it away.

Another witness, Francis Caruana, told the court that he owed about €7,000 to Mr Caruana over the registration of a vehicle. He said that Mr Caruana had demanded payment of €2,000, warning him that he would suffer the same fate as Mr Desira.

Supt Vassallo told the court that the person who had installed the CCTV system on Dr Pace’s property could not give evidence at this stage because he was involved in a court case over failure to charge VAT for the system.

At the end of yesterday’s sitting, Mr Caruana and Mr Psaila were granted bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000.

Lawyers Edwards Gatt and Veronique Dalli appeared for the accused.

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