Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1509678
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 OCTOBER 2023 NEWS the heart of Paceville clude two flats, eight houses and a land plot. It is unclear how the family has been able to afford all these assets. After he was arrested for prostitu- tion in 2012, Răzvan Tănase told police that he owned a car wash business and a gambling hall. "I am also a fiddler," he said. But reporters found no evidence that Răzvan Tănase or his family had a legitimate source of income that could explain their wealth. An altercation at Big G's In Malta, three Romanian men have been charged with living off the earnings of this prostitution ring. These are the same men be- ing charged with the murder of Joseff Rivas last December. The three men – Dan Andrei Tănase, Ilie Constantin, and Ionuț Iulian Tănase – were arrested the morning after the murder. Dan Andrei Tănase and Ionuț Iulian Tănase are brothers, and cousins to Florian Răzvan Tănase. They were the first to be arraigned in front of Magistrate Ian Farrugia. Constantin, a cousin of theirs, was arraigned a few days later after he was admitted to hospital with in- juries. Reporters established that five men travelled to Malta to con- front Constantin and the Tănase brothers about a disagreement on how the prostitution profits were to be split. Constantin and the Tănase brothers were receiving a 50% cut from the money made by the prostitutes. However, they had to pass on 50% of their own share to Florian Răzvan Tănase, leaving them unhappy with a 25% share. Constantin and the Tănase brothers were convinced that the five men travelled to Malta with the intention of killing them. They said they all went to a souvenir shop and bought penknives "for self-defence". One of the men who approached them on that fatal December day was Victor Barbu, of Romanian nationality. Barbu has a coloured criminal past – in 2018, he was at a party in Bucharest that led to a street fight with knives and guns. He ended up slashing an- other man's neck, leaving a 20cm wound. Barbu was sentenced to four years and four months in prison for attempted murder. Previously, he had a string of convictions for robbery, firearms trafficking, and pimping. The second man who had ap- proached the Tănase brothers and Constantin was Liviu Todica, one of Florian Răzvan Tănase's afore- mentioned henchmen. The group of men that came to Malta in De- cember were renting a Marsaskala short-let under his name for their stay. The third man was Joseff Rivas, who was killed during the alter- cation. Rivas is a British national who had been involved in a 2002 plot to kidnap Victoria Beck- ham, although the charges were dropped. In 2009, he was charged with attempted murder after al- legedly punching a drunk col- league during a fight at Constanta Port in Romania. The man was left with perma- nent disability and later died as a result of the injuries. In 2016 he was arrested for armed robbery in Romania and sentenced to seven years and 292 days in prison. However, his sen- tence was later reduced to four years and 292 days. The other two men who came to Malta with these three were Raz- van Iliescu and Antonio Boldeanu. The case in court The compilation of evidence against Constantin and the Tănase brothers is underway but has been riddled with interpretation mud- dles and a sudden recusal of the magistrate presiding the case. One sitting in January had to be postponed entirely as no one was available to interpret from Roma- nian to Maltese. The usual inter- preter on the case was abroad, and while the prosecution and defence initially agreed on a replacement interpreter, the defence had its reservations and advised the inter- preter not to attend the hearing, without advising the prosecution of this. In a later case in April, none of the six interpreters contacted by police were able to attend the sit- ting. One interpreter, who had been assisting the defence, was ap- pointed as a temporary measure. In fact, Constantin was almost not arraigned back in December after the courts struggled to find an interpreter for the sitting. Po- lice must arraign or release people within 48 hours of arrest, and the 48-hour period almost expired be- fore his arraignment. Last June, the magistrate who had been presiding over the hear- ings recused herself due to a con- flict of interest with one of the defence lawyers. Now, the case has been assigned to Magistrate Astrid May Grima. In the last court hearing, the court rejected Dan Andrei Tănase's bail request citing his lack of strong ties to Malta. The court was also unconvinced that Tănase would comply with his bail conditions. 10 months after their arraign- ment, and it is unclear when ex- actly the three men will stand trial. Reporters tried reaching out to the accused, but their lawyers de- clined to comment. During investigations, police found a piece of paper with several Maltese numbers scribbled down. These numbers were traced back to these escort websites Victor Barbu is a Romanian man with a coloured criminal past. His previous convictions include robbery, firearms traficking, pimping and attempted murder Joseff Rivas was allegedly involved in a 2002 plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham. In 2009, he was charged with attempted murder for punching a drunk colleague during a fight in Romania Florian Razvan Tanase is the alleged mastermind behind the prostitution racket, having moved to Malta in 2015 after being convicted of pimping in Romania