A love triangle between two men and a woman ended up in two men being wrongly charged for participating in a hold-up which took place in 2010. They have now been cleared of charges.

35-year-old Aaron Cassar and 52-year-old Joseph Grech, were charged with participating in a hold-up at an Exchange Bureau in St Julians on 8 August 2010, after another man arrested for the hold-up claimed they were the masterminds behind it.

In court, Josef Aquilina, an employee at the Bureau, explained that on the morning of the day in question, he was opening up the outlet when three masked men showed up, ordering him not to move. They then commanded him to get down on his knees and tied him up using cable wires. The robbers then took cash and other items from the open safe and took off.

Two days after the incident, the police arrested Keith Galea in connection with the hold up. The man first denied involvement in the case, but later said he was responsible for pointing the weapon at the employee while others took the cash.

In court, he said that shortly after he was released from prison, Joseph Grech approached him, telling him he had a 'job' for him, one which would earn him €100,000. The two men knew each other from prison.

He claimed that he later met Mr Grech, Mr Casar, and another man, who he did not know, to discuss the hold up, before proceeding to change registration plates on a stolen vehicle.

Two years later, he told Magistrate Carol Peralta that the masterminds behind the act were  Mr Cassar and Mr Grech. Asked why he did not mention them before, he said he did not have the opportunity to talk about the case before.

In turn, Mr Grech and Mr Cassar were charged with stealing over €2300 in cash, gift vouchers and top up cards, holding a man against his will using violence, being in possession of and firing a weapon, stealing a vehicle and changing its registration plates as well as relapsing.

It later emerged that Mr Galea and Mr Cassar had argued about a woman, who they had both dated. 

In court, Mr Grech said that he had witnessed the two men arguing about the woman in a bar in Hamrun, adding that Mr Galea had threatened both men that they would pay for it. He argued that he was not involved in the hold-up and he was serving a prison sentence when he was interrogated.

In her consideration, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that the prosecution failed to present enough evidence connecting the two men to the hold-up. He said that Mr Galea's testimony was not convincing and did not comply with the testimony of the employee involved. In addition, it was clear that Mr Galea and Mr Cassar had argued about the woman.

The two men were cleared of all charges.