A fourth man was arraigned in court this afternoon in connection with the road works bribery case.

Godfrey Cutajar, 36, a scrap dealer, admitted to money laundering. The court was told that he used to accept money in order to issue receipts which were then presented to Transport Malta as part of billing for road works.

He was granted bail pending sentencing, against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of another €1,000.

Earlier today, two officials of a road-building company and an architect employed by Transport Malta were  accused of money laundering, fraud and making false statements.

George Schembri, a director of Alfred Schembri and Sons Ltd and Donald Camilleri, an accounts clerk, were arraigned after a year-long investigation in which three Transport Malta officials were also questioned and more than 20 road works contracts were studied. 

The two pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution said that the accused had made an unlawful profit of over €500,000 over two years to the detriment of the government. They asked for the financial assets of the two men to be frozen while the case was heard.

The court accepted the request.

The accused were remanded in custody.

Architect Gordon Zammit, who works in the roads directorate of Transport Malta was arraigned separately. He was arrested on Monday along with two other Transport Malta officials, but while Mr Zammit was kept under arrest, the other two were released yesterday.

The prosecution said that the company's project manager and the company's architect - who had no knowledge of the scam - would issue the normal itemised bill, which was then sent to Transport Malta, where Architect Zammit would increase the amounts. 

Once the bill was settled by Transport Malta, the company pocketed half the difference, and architect Zammit kept the remainder. The accounts clerk knew what was going on but did not receive any money, the police said.

Mr Zammit was also remanded in custody.