A man, his two sons and daughter accused of trafficking Filipino workers were today granted bail following the testimony of a number of witnesses.
The accused are Joseph Degiorgio 71 of Balzan, Paul Degiorgio 47 of Lija, Christopher Degiorgio, 42 of Naxxar, and Josianne Bugeja Degiorgio, 34 of Balzan.
Prosecutors allege the four trafficked Filipinos to Malta and then employed them with their company Mr Clean. Police pressed charges after a monitoring operation lasting several months.
In some cases, 12 Filipinos were found to be sharing a single room. The Filipinos paid €5,000 for a contract of employment through a Filipino agent.
When they arrived in Malta their contract was taken from them and they were forced to sign another one with less favourable conditions or risk being sent back.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera lambasted the prison services for bringing the accused to court late, delaying the sitting.
The father and his two sons - the directors of the company Mr Clean - were granted bail against deposits of €10,000 and personal guarantees of €20,000.
Josianne Bugeja Degiorgio - who is a company employee - was granted bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000.