Disgraced Maltese lawyer Patrick Spiteri, who is facing extradition to Malta over fraud-related charges, has still not been located by the British authorities, the Malta Police Force has told The Malta Independent.

This paper revealed last week how Dr Spiteri was not found when police officers went knocking on the door of his €4 million country estate. 

Patrick Spiteri has been charged a number of times with fraud, including the misappropriation of some €230,000. He was also charged with falsification of documents and defrauding persons who used him as their tax advisor. The cases against him amount to eight cases of fraud in all, adding up to some €1 million. Spiteri has been living permanently in the UK since January of 2014.

He had been granted bail by a UK court and, according to reports he had also paid a deposit to have his electronic tag removed. Sources close to the case said one of the conditions was that he had to be at home when the time for extradition came

But he was nowhere to be seen when officers went to collect him last week. The lawyer was due to appear before a number of courts on Friday but the sittings had to be deferred.

In a letter to this paper, the Malta Police Force clarified that, as per regulations, Maltese officers went for a handover at the airport, and did not go to pick Dr Spiteri up from his registered address.

“Patrick Spiteri was not arrested by the Malta Police who went to the United Kingdom to return him to Malta. Mr Spiteri was arrested by the UK authorities on the basis of eight European Arrest Warrants that were issued against him by the Maltese Courts and subsequently he was arraigned before the UK Courts. The accused was granted bail against a deposit and other conditions. Following the order by the UK Courts to be extradited to Malta, Patrick Spiteri appealed the sentence.

Last week, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of Mr Spiteri, and ordered that he has to be extradited to Malta by not later than the 5th February 2016.  However, Patrick Spiteri was not detained or placed under arrest awaiting extradition, as is the practice in other EU countries.

Yesterday (Friday), following the necessary travel and security arrangements, members of the Malta Police travelled to Heathrow Airport, where Patrick Spiteri was to be handed over to the Malta Police.  This is a procedure according to international laws.  This handover had to take place at the Heathrow check-in counter two hours prior the departure of the flight back to Malta.

At this point, the Maltese authorities were informed that when the UK police (not accompanied by any officials from the Malta Police) went to arrest Patrick Spiteri from his registered address, he was not traced. Subsequently, when the UK police traced Spiteri’s partner, they were informed that she lost contact with Spiteri that same day, and thus he was reported missing. Spiteri has not yet been traced by the UK authorities, and the Maltese authorities will be informed once he is re-arrested.”