A Magistrates’ Court has declared that Patrick Spiteri, the disbarred lawyer facing criminal proceedings for misappropriation, fraud and falsification of documents, is to remain under preventive arrest.

The former lawyer, currently at the centre of an ongoing court cases revolving around allegations of fraud running into some €7.4 million, had been sent back to Malta by British authorities last May on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant.

During his arraignment on May 31, before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the defence had neither contested the validity of the arrest nor had a request for bail been filed.

Since then, Dr Spiteri has spent the past five months under preventive arrest.

Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti sought to obtain his client’s release from custody arguing that once the European Arrest Warrant had been executed, Dr Spiteri was to be placed in the same state he had enjoyed before leaving Malta, namely when he had been a free man.

However, the court observed that the European Arrest Warrant, in terms of a Council Framework Decision of 2002, was issued “for the purposes of conducting a criminal prosecution or executing a custodial sentence or detention order.”

Magistrate Scerri Herrera declared that Dr Spiteri’s arrest had been legitimately executed in terms of the warrant and his return to Malta under such warrant meant that he was under arrest.

Moreover, any responsibility undertaken by the Justice Minister to keep the extradited person under police custody, was to be respected during the pendency of criminal proceedings, the court observed.

Any time spent under preventive arrest would eventually be deducted from any term of imprisonment imposed by a final judgment, in case of any finding of guilt.

Whilst rejecting the argument by the defence and acknowledging a possible future request for bail, the court declared that Dr Spiteri was meanwhile to remain in custody.

Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla prosecuted.
Lawyer Stefano Filletti was defence counsel.