The trial by jury of a 74-year-old man yesterday drew to a close after defence counsel accused the prosecution of filling in the gaps of the story they presented with its own inventions.

Defence lawyer Emmanuel Mallia told jurors in his closing address that where there were gaps in the evidence, one could not just fill in the missing pieces with what the prosecution thought should be there. "Suspicion is not proof," he insisted.

The lawyer made the arguments in the trial of Vincenzo Stivala who is pleading not guilty to money laundering, acting as a financial institution without a licence and relapsing.

But the prosecution is banking its case on the fact that Mr Stivala admitted he cashed a cheque for some €52,500 which was not meant for him - a crime in itself. He had told the court he cashed it for his friend Charles Meilaq also known as Il-Milinarju.

The cheque had been issued by mistake in the name of a contractor, Charles Dimech, by the Water Services Corporation. But it was not explained how the cheque ended up in the hands of Mr Meilaq and the contractor insisted he did not receive a second payment after having been paid for a job he did for the WSC.

The defence harped on this fact, stressing these were glaring holes in the story produced by the prosecution.

However, the prosecuting lawyer, Anthony Barbara, insisted that not only were the actions admitted to by Mr Stivala criminal but the way he cashed the cheque also indicated he knew he was cashing dodgy money.

In fact, Dr Barbara pointed out that Mr Stivala used a "hidden account" which was on his daughter's name but on which he had power of attorney to deposit the money. Dr Barbara also claimed that Mr Stivala had received a payment for this service when he withdrew some €1,250 from the account soon after he deposited the money.

However, the defence lawyer used this as an example of how the prosecution was joining the dots to prove its case, stressing that the withdrawal in itself did not prove anything.

Jurors are expected to retire to deliberate this morning.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi also appeared for Mr Stivala.