The 75-year-old “whistleblower” in the Rita Schembri case is at risk of having his assets frozen after the Attorney General made the request in the court case yesterday.

Magistrate Anthony Vella expressed his surprise at the request, saying that this was a defamation case and the accused, Joe Borg, was not charged with money laundering.

Mr Borg stands charged with sending a defamatory e-mail in which he allegedly attempted to blackmail Ms Schembri, who is the head of the Government’s internal audit bureau (IAID).

Ms Schembri is also a member of the European anti-fraud office Olaf and at the centre of an investigation that she requested for allegedly breaching ethics.

In the sitting yesterday, Mr Borg’s lawyer Daniel Buttigieg said it was not right for his client to have his assets frozen over this case and echoed the magistrate’s sentiment.

He added that his client was a businessman who always followed the law and this was not a case of money laundering.

Magistrate Anthony Vella deferred the case and said he would give a decision on whether he would issue the order to freeze the assets at a later date.