A Criminal Court yesterday imposed stiffer bail conditions for two men who are facing criminal proceedings for a number of charges of money laundering, making false declarations, using false documents and defrauding Casino Di Venezia.

Last week, Fabio Zulian, 42, and Gaetano Caramazza, 58, from Italy were granted bail against a deposit of Lm5,000 and a personal guarantee of Lm15,000 each. They were also placed under house arrest.

Mr Zulian and Mr Caramazza are also accused of money laundering last month and before, while Mr Zulian is also accused of forging public documents.

A third man, Nevio Barut, 44, from Slovenia, is also charged with defrauding Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd of more than Lm1,000 and possession of and using false documents. He has not asked for bail.

The Attorney General appealed the decision to grant the two Italians bail since they are foreigners and could easily abscond. The AG requested the court to order the men’s re-arrest and withdraw the bail concession granted last week.

The AG argued that the bail conditions imposed by magistrate Miriam Hayman on 29 December did not serve as a good enough guarantee for the foreigners.

Handing down his judgement, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano said that magistrate Hayman, presiding over the first court, tried to strike a balance between guaranteeing a good administration of justice and the defendants’ freedom.

However, Chief Justice De Gaetano said the Lm5,000 deposit was too little to guarantee that they appear in court for their proceedings. He therefore imposed a heftier deposit, increased to Lm15,000 as well as a personal guarantee of another Lm15,000.

All the other bail conditions remained unchanged. Police inspector Antonovitch Muscat prosecuted.

Dr Joseph Brincat and Dr Stefano Filletti appeared for Mr Zulian, Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Veronique Dalli appeared for Mr Caramazza. Dr Gianella Caruana Carrun appeared in parte civile for Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd and Dr Arthur Azzopardi appeared for the Attorney General.