Fomer OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri is claiming that bringing forward his money laundering case could be prejudicial.

On Monday, his lawyers filed constitutional proceedings, claiming that his right to a fair hearing has been breached and requesting the removal from evidence in his money laundering case of a mobile phone that had disappeared for several weeks before turning up amongst the exhibits in a separate case.

In an application filed on Tuesday, Schembri’s lawyers said that on Monday evening they had received an email from Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech’s deputy registrar informing them that the next sitting in the money laundering case was to be heard on 10 November, rather than 20 November, as had been originally scheduled. 

This meant that proceedings in the money laundering case would continue before the constitutional court rules on whether the phone would be accepted as evidence.  By changing the date of the hearing, the Magistrates’ Court move could result in serious prejudice for Schembri, his lawyers claimed. 

They called upon Mr Justice Mark Simiana, who was assigned the constitutional case, to handle the case with a greater measure of urgency and to appoint a first hearing before Friday’s hearing before Magistrate Frendo Dimech.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo signed the application.