A couple who allegedly swindled an elderly man out of some €70,000 through blackmail and fraud on Wednesday was denied bail on account of the risk of tampering with evidence once the vulnerable victim still has to testify.

Miriam Caruana, a 33-year old who had served time behind bars before Wednesday's arraignment, together with Palestinian-born Ali Mohammed Hassan, 33, both Valletta residents, were arraigned over charges of fraud, misappropriation, theft of gold and other items.

Although scanty details of any possible relationship between the accused and their victim emerged throughout the hearing, the prosecution explained how, in October 2017, the elderly man had reported to the police how he was being constantly asked for sums of money.

He claimed to be receiving repeated calls from a woman, later identified as Ms Caruana, who pushed him to fork out different amounts at a time, which were then collected from the alleged victim by the woman’s partner, identified as ‘Alex.’

The elderly man finally decided to seek help, turning to the police who, after carefully checking telephone logs as well as the victim’s bank accounts, confirmed that between December 2016 and October 2017, some €70,000 had allegedly been handed over to the suspected swindlers.

The two were arrested and arraigned on Wednesday, pleading not guilty and requesting bail.

The request was turned down by duty magistrate Joseph Mifsud who, after citing extensively from relative caselaw and doctrine, concluded that the possibility of the alleged victim being approached before testifying, warranted against release from preventive arrest.

Inspectors Chantelle Casha and Shaun Pawney prosecuted.

Lawyer George Anton Buttigieg was defence counsel.