Bail Given To Maltese Men Charged With Fgura Car Bomb Attempted Murder
Cover photo: NET, TVM
Three Maltese men suspected to be behind a failed car bomb last January have been given bail and ordered to sign the police bail book every day as their case continues.
The three men – Jonathan Farrugia, known as Ġanni ta’ Nina’, Lorenzo Callus, known as Ħeswes, and Paul Farrugia, known as Kwattru – have been charged with the attempted murder of car dealer Mario Scicluna and his partner Elaine Galdes by planting a car bomb underneath Scicluna’s personal vehicle, a Mitsubishi.
Apart from signing the bail book daily between 6am and 9pm, they were ordered to pay €70,000 as a personal guarantee and €30,000 as a deposit.
Pictured: Triq Sant’ Antnin, Fgura
The men had been caught after investigators defused the bomb and found an undamaged SIM card
The police and army had received a call in the evening after a resident in the area had reportedly seen a spark and heard a “strange sound” underneath Scicluna’s parked car. Authorities soon identified the source of the noise to be an unexploded bomb, and Explosive Ordinance Unit were called in to deactivate it.
When they deactivated it, they found a Nokie phone with an intact SIM card, which led investigators to the three men currently being charged with the attempted murder.
The men now face a slew of charges
Aside from being charged with attempted murder, all of the men were charged with planning to build an explosive, building and attaching the explosive to a car, planning to cause damage to the surroundings, possession of explosive material, and forming part of a criminal gang.
Callus and Farrugia were both given additional charges. Callus was charged with carrying a weapon without a license when he was arrested, as well as being in possession of cannabis resin and heroin.
Farrugia was charged with being in possession of a large amount of contraband cigarettes.
These additional breaches of the law were only discovered due to the authorities investigating the attempted murder.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi appeared for Callus and Farrugia and while Roberto Montalto for Paul Farrugia. Lawyer Mario Mifsud appeared on behalf of the parte civile, Scicluna and Galdes.
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