Magistrate Orders Accused’s Assets To Be Frozen
Magistrate Rachel Montebello has dismissed all the defence’s submissions and ordered the freezing of the accused’s assets, including those of former PM Joseph Muscat, his former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, and former Minister Konrad Mizzi, as requested by the Attorney General’s office.
The magistrate stated that the law does not require her to appraise the amounts of the funds being frozen.
She clarified that the court’s duty is to determine whether it is reasonable to freeze the funds. She emphasised that whether the magistrate’s conclusions amount to evidence is irrelevant at this stage, as the court is not currently dealing with evidence.
Montebello further mentioned that during the proceedings, the court may find that the amount in question is actually larger. She explained that the court will not consider the merits of the freezing order, as doing so would mean expressing an opinion on the case’s merits.
Dr Refalo from the AG’s office argued that the defence counsels’ requests were pointless since the court had already ruled on the matter. He stated that the prosecution would rely on the court’s decree to specify the pages of the inquiry report indicating the amounts frozen.
Regarding the request to distinguish between funds frozen personally and those frozen in a representative capacity of a company, Refalo said this is not required by law.
After hearing the defence counsels and the prosecution, the Magistrate again rejected all the defence’s submissions and ordered the freezing of the accused’s assets, as requested by the AG’s office.
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