MaltaToday previous editions

5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 APRIL 2021 NEWS THE wellbeing of youth should take precedence over the inter- est of those who want to profit from the proposed cannabis reform, church schools said as they warned of the impact on mental health. The effect of cannabis on youths' mental health and the negative impact the promo- tion of such a culture can have should be considered, the Sec- retariat for Catholic Education and the Church Schools Asso- ciation (CSA) said on Tuesday. The association was reacting to the White Paper published by the government that pro- poses relaxing the rules on the use of cannabis for recreational purposes. "The Secretariat and the CSA emphasise that priority should be given to the effect of canna- bis on young people's mental health and the way it will pro- mote and strengthen a canna- bis culture among our young today as well as entire future generations," the church or- ganisations said. They appealed to parlia- ment to safeguard the mental wellbeing of young people and not the interests of a few who will "enrich themselves at the expense of young people." The organisations said they fully endorsed the arguments put forward by Caritas Mal- ta, OASI, and the Malta Psy- chiatry Association, which describes the negative conse- quences that the proposed law will have on young people and children in Malta and Gozo. Church schools urge MPs to prioritise wellbeing of youths over those who will profit from cannabis reform MATTHEW AGIUS THE court has granted bail to Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna, Karl Cini and Manuel Castag- na and their employee Katrin Bondin Carter after a sitting in which various police officers testified. The accused have all pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering. Tonna and Cini were grant- ed bail against a deposit of €60,000 each and a personal guarantee of €90,000. They cannot go overseas and have to sign the bail book daily at the police station. The other accused were handed down slightly less onerous bail con- ditions. When the compilation of ev- idence against them continued today, the court heard the tes- timony of a number of police officers involved in the search- es and arrests. Defence lawyers argued that the evidence against their cli- ents was documentary and this had been collected and presented, which meant there was no risk of tampering. The prosecution led by the Attor- ney General's office insisted investigations were progress- ing well but had not yet con- cluded. In September 2020, Tonna and Cini lost their warrants to practice as accountants after the regulatory authority initi- ated disciplinary proceedings against them. The board also suspended the registration of Nexia BT, BTI Management Limited and Nexia BT Advisory Services Limited. The court had already im- posed a wide-ranging freezing order on Tonna and Cini, their companies and linked business associates The prosecutions are linked to two magisterial inquiries initiated on a request by for- mer Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. The first concerns al- legations of kickbacks between Tonna and former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri from the sale of citizenship to Rus- sian nationals. The second inquiry concerns allegations that Schembri paid backhanders to Adrian Hillman and Vince Buhagiar, former managing directors at Allied Newspapers over the purchase of printing machin- ery by Progress Press. Schembri and other business associates of his from the Kas- co Group were granted bail yesterday and released today. Lawyer Stephen Tonna Low- ell is appearing for Tonna and Cini, while Michael Sciriha and Matthew Xuereb are ap- pearing for Castagna. Lawyer Franco Debono is appearing for Katrin Bondin Carter. Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech is presiding. Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna (centre) and Karl Cini (right) being transported to Court by police Brian Tonna, Karl Cini and associates granted bail in money laundering case

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