There were heartbreaking scenes in court this morning as a Hungarian man was detained under a European arrest warrant. Roland Istvan Gabor’s wife and two daughters flung themselves upon the man as he was hauled before duty magistrate Neville Camilleri to answer whether he wished to contest the warrant or submit to it.

Gabor is wanted by the Hungarian authorities to answer to 26 cases of fraud, prosecutor Matthew Xuereb from the office of the Attorney General told the court.

33-year-old Gabor, who lived in Victoria, Gozo confirmed that he was the individual mentioned in the European Arrest Warrant and informed the court that he was going to contest the extradition request. His lawyer Fransina Abela, legal aid, asked for bail. Prosecuting inspectors Mario Cuschieri and Mark Galea objected to the request, saying there was a “real fear” of the man absconding or going into hiding.

The court denied bail, saying there was no valid reason to uphold the request in view of the prosecution’s demands in the proceedings.

Gabor’s wife and children were in floods of tears, desperately hugging the man as he was led away.