Two Italian men were charged with defrauding a total of E172,000 in win cheques to the detriment of Casino di Venezia over two weekends, the court heard yesterday.

Prosecuting inspector Antonovitch Muscat was testifying in the compilation of evidence, presided over by Magistrate Miriam Hayman, against three foreigners who are being charged with forgery and fraud.

Fabio Zulian, 42, and Gaetano Caramazza, 58, from Italy and Nevio Barut, 44, from Slovenia, are accused of conspiracy to commit a crime, defrauding Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd of more than Lm1,000 and possession of and using false documents this month and before. They are also charged with receiving stolen goods.

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

Mr Barut was the only one to plead guilty to all charges.

Inspector Muscat said that on 5 December he received a report from three Casino di Venezia employees over blank cheques which reportedly had been stolen.

He told the court that the three men gambled at the Casino during the last weekend of November and the first weekend of December.

The employees encountered problems during the second weekend when the three men presented cheques which were exchanged for chips at the Casino.

Insp. Muscat told the court that during the first weekend of December, the three men presented bank drafts amounting to a total of E250,000.

However, when the Casino tried to cash the cheques and bank drafts, they were informed that the bank drafts were stolen in 2002 and the cheques were linked to an account that was closed last October.

Furthermore, Insp. Muscat said, none of the men were the owners of the accounts.

The inspector explained that the men exchanged the cheques and bank drafts for gaming chips, which were then distributed among third parties.

After they finished gambling, Insp. Muscat added, the win cheques were cashed and the money was transferred to the third parties' bank accounts through a Swift transfer.

The police managed to stop a transfer of E101,000, he said.

On the 7 December, the Casino informed the police that the three men had booked another weekend and as a result, the police issued an arrest warrant, Insp. Muscat said.

When the men were arrested, the police found a total of nine bank drafts worth E50,000 each amounting to a total of E450,000, and five blank cheques while searching Mr Barut.

In his statement, Mr Barut said that the bank drafts were given to him by Mr Zulian on the plane, Insp. Muscat said.

However, he added, Mr Zulian denied this in his statement and said that he made use of five bank drafts during the previous weekend.

These bank drafts, worth E50,000 each and used during the weekend of 1 to 3 December, were given to him by a third party.

Police are still investigating the involvement of third parties, Insp. Muscat said.

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, and Dr Duncan Borg Myatt appeared for Mr Barut. Dr Gianella Caruana Carrun appeared in parte civilie for Vittoriosa Gaming Ltd and Dr Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Attorney General.