A 42-year-old Qormi woman accused of posing as a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer to con a 94-year-old woman out of more than €160,000 in cash and jewellery has been denied bail.

Miriam Caruana, who is unemployed, pleaded not guilty to the charges when she was arraigned before Magistrate Abigail Critien on Thursday.

The court heard that Caruana allegedly won over the elderly woman's trust by claiming she was "part of the CID" and explaining that she wore plain clothes because of the nature of her work. The woman reportedly believed her, as her husband had also been connected with the Criminal Investigation Department.

Caruana had allegedly told the woman she needed to inspect the cash she kept at home as part of an investigation. Trusting her, the pensioner invited her inside and even offered her a drink.

Caruana somehow found out that the nonagenarian kept her savings in a tin at home. The tin is understood to have contained around €100,000 in cash. Prosecutors said that while the pensioner was distracted, Caruana allegedly made off with the cash before helping herself to jewellery worth around €60,000 and leaving the residence.

Some time later, the woman's son and nephew realised her savings and jewellery had vanished and reported the matter to the police.

The prosecution, led by lawyer Miguel Taliana on behalf of the Attorney General, together with Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Christine Delia, strongly objected to the defence's request for bail.

They argued that the case was still at a very early stage, with several witnesses yet to testify, and stressed that the alleged victim was a particularly vulnerable 94-year-old woman. They also pointed out that the accused was already in breach of three separate sets of bail conditions. Describing the accused as having a "refractory character", prosecutors referred to what they said was a lengthy criminal record, arguing that it showed she had failed to mend her ways.

The defence insisted that Caruana remained presumed innocent until proven guilty. "Coming here and saying that she is not learning from her mistakes goes against the principle of presumption of innocence," defence counsel argued.

The court also heard that Caruana is three months pregnant and has a fixed address.

During the hearing, the accused raised her hand and asked whether she could instead be placed under house arrest. Her lawyer replied that such a measure was not available under Maltese law, telling her: "Home arrest does not exist."

The bail request was turned down.