A series of fraudulent thefts from an electronics chain store led the police to a man accused of being a drugs kingpin, after he allegedly accepted the stolen equipment as payment for drugs.
This fresh snippet of information emerged on Wednesday during the compilation of evidence against Jordan Azzopardi and a mother-of-five currently facing drug-related and fake currency charges ever since their arrest in March.
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A sergeant from the CID testified that the police had been investigating a series of thefts targeting the Pieta, Sliema and Birkirkara outlets of the same electronics store. The suspect had made use of a stolen cheque book to purchase iPhones and laptops before suspicious staff members had reported him to the police.
The fraudster was ultimately tracked down, with the help of CCTV footage from the stores.
The man, an Iranian national, was registered in Malta as a student. He had admitted to the fraud which had involved over €25,000 worth of brand new equipment, some of which was retrieved by investigators.
One iPhone was traced to the young mother, currently seated by Mr Azzopardi at the dock, the witness explained, adding that another gadget had been recovered from the brother of Ramires Vella, another youth arrested during police raids linked to the accused’s circle of operations.
The thief confessed that he had handed over a large part of the merchandise to Mr Azzopardi in exchange for drugs, the officer went on, explaining that the man had not replied when asked whether the drug kingpin had devised the fraudulent scheme.
The court, presided over by magistrate Doreen Clarke, also heard how three receipts relating to items purchased from the stores had been discovered during searches at Mr Azzopardi’s property together with the brand-new packaged products.
Another officer from the Economic Crimes Unit also confirmed under oath that back in 2015, Mr Azzopardi had been arraigned alongside two other co-accused, Naomi Tanti and Silvio Camilleri, over use of fake currency.
Proceedings in this regard were still ongoing separately before another Magistrates’ Court, Inspector Matthew Vella testified.
Robert Mifsud, a currency expert, on Wednesday reported in court how four envelopes containing different currency had yielded only two fake banknotes. The other envelopes contained €480, €230 and four other banknotes, all genuine currency.
At the end of the hearing, the court declared that there was sufficient evidence for both accused to be placed under a bill of indictment.
As for the request for bail on behalf of the mother, defence lawyer Alfred Abela rebutted objections raised by the Attorney General, stating that there was no possible risk of tampering with evidence since the only civilian witness in her regard was currently behind bars.
Nor was there a risk of absconding given that the woman’s children lived in Malta, Dr Abela continued, adding that the accused had a clean criminal record.
Moreover, a recent decision by the Criminal Court, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, had stated that investigations against a third party were not to create an obstacle to the granting of bail.
The court was to decide upon the request in chambers.
Meanwhile, a bail application on behalf of Mr Azzopardi was to be dealt with at a later stage, upon the accused’s own request.
Inspector Mark Anthony Mercieca prosecuted. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin are defence counsel.
The case continues in June.