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6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 APRIL 2023 NEWS NEWS Judge rejects Roderick Cassar's bail request Casa takes Borg transactions to court over failure to start money laundering probe A judge has rejected a bail re- quest filed by Roderick Cassar, the man accused of fatally shoot- ing his wife Bernice in the face, last year, after hearing how he had threatened to kill the vic- tim's children, even after his ar- rest. Mr. Justice Neville Camilleri heard submissions by Cassar's lawyers and prosecutors in con- nection with the bail request that was filed yesterday. First to make submissions on that request was lawyer Ar- thur Azzopardi, defence coun- sel together with lawyer Franco Debono. Azzopardi conceded that the case was a very serious one, but argued that the Attor- ney General's written arguments against bail dealt with the merits, which were being contested. He said that the defence had waited till today to request bail to allow the prosecution witnesses to testify, suggesting that only the testimony of a court-appointed expert remained pending before the compilation of evidence. There was "no risk" of Cassar fleeing the country, as his family were all in Malta, said the lawyer, suggesting a temporary order of supervision as an option. Cassar was also facing other proceed- ings which had not yet started, conceded the lawyer. "Mr. Cassar understands that he must bow his head to all the obligations and conditions imposed by the court." But prosecutor Angele Vella from the Office of the Attorney General informed the court that there were, in fact, further civil- ian witnesses who have not yet testified and the defendant was actively calling up witnesses and threatening them. "He would phone the victim's father and tell him that if he wasn't going to be allowed to en- joy the children, nobody would," said Vella, adding that Cassar had also called up another witness, telling her that he would get his revenge "on all of you." "I cannot fail to bring this to the attention of the court," said the lawyer. The defendant's character was reflected in his attitude, she ar- gued, reminding the court that Cassar had left the murder scene. "After the alleged murder, the de- fendant didn't stay there to turn himself in, he fled and holed him- self up for 17 hours, refusing the police's orders to come out." "With the guillotine coming down on you, for the worst crime you can commit, can you trust a person whose first instinct was to flee?" asked the lawyer. The prosecutor argued that the defendant was "incapable of obeying authority." "The prosecution does not be- lieve that he will obey the court's orders. The prosecution fully believes, in the context of the threats made to the family after the incident, that he is not capa- ble of following bail conditions." Lawyer Franco Debono, also defence counsel to Cassar, asked to be handed the case file to make reference to parts of it, but the court refused. "Do you expect the court to give up the case file, which you are very well acquaint- ed with, better than anyone else, while you make your arguments?" replied the judge testily. Debono then compared Cassar's situation to the defendants in the cases against Lorin Scicluna and Francesco Fenech, who are ac- cused of the drive-by shooting of Lassana Cisse and Justin Borg, who is indicted for the murder of the mother of his children, Chantelle Chetcuti. "The crimes are similar, the cases are similar and they were granted bail by the Criminal Court," Debono argued. The judge replied that compar- isons are odious and that every case had to be decided on its own merits. "I believe that com- parisons are necessary," replied Debono, briefly bickering with the judge. Mr. Justice Camilleri pointed out that "variations in decrees happen because the fabric of the cases are different. The facts are never identical. It is impossible. Similar maybe, but identical, nev- er." Debono replied that compar- isons with similar cases were needed for uniformity and con- sistency in decisions, before changing tack and suggesting electronic tagging, pointing to decrees which recommended the introduction of the practice. The courts were recommending tagging but it was not being im- plemented by the State, except in very limited circumstances, he said, inviting the court to consid- er tagging. The defence also suggested a bail supervision order or bail se- cured by third-party guarantors as valid possibilities. Deciding on the bail application, the judge noted the stage reached by the compilation of evidence, as well as the crimes attributed to the defendant. He denied the request for bail, explaining that the court "at least till now, is not satisfied that should the applicant be granted bail, he will be prepared to abide by the conditions." Mr. Justice Neville Camilleri presided. Roderick Cassar was represent- ed by lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Franco Debono and Jacob Magri. Lawyers Angele Vella, Darlene Grima and Anthony Vella from the office of the Attorney Gener- al, prosecuted. Reporting by Matthew Agius MATTHEW AGIUS NATIONALIST MEP David Casa has submitted a court ap- plication in which he denounc- es money laundering and VAT fraud by No Deposit Cars owner Christian Borg, which were nev- er investigated or prosecuted. Casa said Borg, who came to notoriety as part of the infa- mous kidnap gang also charged in court, made transactions that should have been flagged as mon- ey laundering risks. The court application comes after a Sunday Times article al- leging widespread money laun- dering practices and VAT fraud. "Through my lawyer Dr Jason Azzopardi, I have filed a court ap- plication bringing to the formal attention of the duty magistrate the shocking facts contained in the article published last Sunday by Jacob Borg," Casa said. No Deposit customers demand tax evasion and fraud investi- gation targeting Christian Borg Casa emphasised that none of the grievous facts alleged have been denied, including a vast €100,000 deposited across 47 ATMs in the span of just a month. "The Financial Crimes Inves- tigations Unit has been in pos- session of these facts for several months," Casa claimed, citing police sources. "In spite of this, not only did they fail to act, but they did not even interrogate Christian Borg to demand an ex- planation." Rabat abduction: who are the men behind a car hire business empire? "I feel it is my moral duty to take this step," Casa explained, high- lighting the hypocrisy of those being put through hell to manage their own modest funds, while politically connected criminals continue to flaunt the rules to launder their millions in full view of the law. "This is what is causing Malta's reputational damage and rule of law collapse. Families and small businesses are being thrown un- der the bus to protect criminals." Casa slammed the banks for making thousands of people pass through a labyrinth of pro- cedures to deposit small sums, with an inexplicable difference in treatment. "As the BOV is public- ly listed, there is a duty to come clean with the public as to why it did not flag the illegal deposits to the FIAU." Christian Borg (Photo: Facebook) Roderick Cassar