Five foreigners today were charged in court in connection with the spate of Sliema burglaries in 2014 and 2015. They all pleaded ‘not guilty’ and were remanded in custody.

Two of the men are Georgian, another one is Polish and the fourth is Lithuanian. The woman is from Kyrgystan. The five were living in an apartment in Qawra.

Those charged are 41-year-old Georgian Kartlos Dolaberidze, 30-year-old Krzysztof Tadeusz Latocha from Poland, 25-year-old Georgian Mate Onani, 27-year-old Adilet Shakirgazieva from Kyrgyztan (who also has an Italian identity card) and a person whose details are not officially known. For this man, the court heard that they had found a driving licence and ID card on his person under the name Sliogeris however the Lithuanian government said they were false. The police are currently trying to uncover his identity through fingerprint technology.

Sliema fell victim to a spate of burglaries over the past months and police even held a meeting with the community. The culprits were believed to be part of to a gang of criminals.

The majority of apartments targeted did not have alarm systems or CCTV cameras, and in all, the police believe the gang responsible for 15 thefts in Sliema this year. The police had said that the criminals used sophisticated tools such as “bump keys.”

Inspector Fabien Fleri told the court that the police launched an investigation into the thefts last year and this year, identifying three men through CCTV footage and proceeded to conduct further surveillance. Two of the men were spotted on a bus in St Paul’s Bay and arrested on 9 September 2015. He explained that the two arrested did not want to tell the police where they lived. However further investigation uncovered the location where they lived, where the police found the other three accused as well as a number of keys and items related to theft. Jewellery and other items connected with the thefts were also discovered.

The charge sheet was seven pages long and all five were charged with forming part of a criminal organisation and handling stolen goods.

Three of the five, Mr Dolaberidze, Mr Tadeusz Latocha and Mr Sliogeris, were charged with a number of thefts of cash, jewels and other items from apartments in Sliema. They were charged with committing thefts between July 31 and September 5, 2015, from apartments in Tower Road, Tigne Street, Mrabat Street, Sir Arturo Mercieca Street, Hughes Hallet Street, Nazzarenu Street, Cathedral Street, Pace Street, Sir Adrian Dingli Street and L. Graham Street. They were also charged with the planned theft from three apartments in Karm Galea Street, Cathedral Street and Locker Street

Mr Krzysztof Tadeusz Latocha was alone charged with theft from three apartments in 2014 in Reggie Miller Street (Gzira), Tower Road in Sliema, and Triq ix-Xatt in Pieta.

Kartlos Dolaberidze was alone charged with theft from two apartments, one in Tower Road apartment August 2014 and an apartment in L. Graham Street, Sliema in May 2014.

The person known as Mr Sliogeris is alone charged with committing theft from five apartments in 2014 in Tigne Street, Tower Road and Wilton Court De Piro Street in Sliema as well as Bugibba Street (St Paul’s Bay) and Sacred Heart Street (St Julian’s). He was also charged with using a false passport, making a false declaration, using a forged document and falsifying documents.

Ms Shakirgazieva and Mr Onani were not charged with any thefts.

The five requested bail, with their legal aid lawyer Joseph Mizzi arguing that they are innocent until proven guilty. The Prosecution objected and said that neither of them had a job and the money they had allegedly was obtained illegally. The prosecution also argued that one of the men didn’t even want to tell police where he resided and that there could in face be more people involved. The five were all denied bail and Magistrate Natasha GaleaSciberras explained that this was due to the fear that they might try and escape from the country.

Inspectors Fabien Fleri, Jonathan Ransley and Kurt Zahra prosecuted.

Earlier:

Four foreign men and one woman are being arraigned in court today in connection with the recent spate of thefts in Sliema, Police Commissioner Michael Cassar said this morning. 

Mr Cassar addressed a crime conference today after the police force managed to bust the foreign criminal gang that has broken into several Sliema apartments over the past weeks. 

Two of the men are Georgian, another one is Polish and the fourth is Lithuanian. The woman is from Kyrgystan. The five were living in St Paul's Bay. 

A number of apartments were targeted over the past weeks. Most of them did not have alarm systems or CCTV cameras.The criminals used sophisticated tools such as “bump keys.”

Mr Cassar said with this bust the 15 thefts in Sliema been solved. He said the police were working in silence as not to risk alerting the culprits to their investigations.

A total of 30 police officers were present in Sliema on a daily basis, involving various branches of the police force. 

“Perhaps the lack of information led people to believe they were not being protected.

“I can assure everyone we took all the necessary measures to protect the public. Circumstances necessitated that all the work being carried out had to be done in silence.

“If the police are going to publicly say what they are doing to catch the culprits, they will go underground. We wanted to stop the thefts permanently,” Commissioner Cassar said. 

Deputy Commissioner Pierre Calleja said investigations into 13 Sliema thefts last year are ongoing and the five people arrested may be linked to these thefts.  He said the information gathered will hopefully help the police solve these thefts.

Mr Calleja said the investigations are actively in progress and more arrests are not excluded. 

Sliema council "delighted" 

Reacting to the news, the Sliema Local Council said it was “delighted” to hear news that arrests have been made following investigations into thefts at our locality both this year and last year.

“Sliema Local Council wishes to thank the Police Authorities for the professionalism shown, their dedication and necessary action taken to arraign these persons. The Sliema Local Council shall continue offering its unrelenting support to both residents and the Police Authorities to ensure peace of mind and safety in the locality.”

The Malta Independent today quoted the Sliema, St Julians and Swieqi mayors saying that it would be too expensive to run CCTV systems in the affected localities. 

Photos: Malta Police Force