Zenith Finance directors should never have been arraigned, lawyer claims
A lawyer for two former directors of Zenith Finance claimed that money laundering proceedings against his clients were “a fishing expedition” and that the pair should never have been arraigned.
This argument was stressed, somewhat animatedly, by lawyer Edward Gatt during the latest hearing in the ongoing compilation of evidence against Matthew Pace and Lorraine Falzon who are facing charges in their personal capacity as well as on behalf of the advisory firm they represented.
The two were among 11 individuals arrested alongside former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and denied bail upon arraignment in March after pleading not guilty to a series of financial crimes, including money laundering and document forgery.
Pace and Falzon were granted bail a few days later by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech who is presiding over the compilation of evidence.
“These two should never have been arraigned,” argued Gatt during the brief hearing during which little progress was registered by the prosecution.
Proceedings were a “constant fishing expedition because at pre-arraignment stage there was not sufficient evidence to arraign these persons,” went on the lawyer.
The prosecuting...