‘Peeping Tom’ Investigation Into Marsaxlokk Restaurant Owner Finds No Evidence Of Wrongdoing
No charges will be pressed against a Marsaxlokk restaurant owner following an investigation into alleged Peeping Tom footage found on his electronic devices.
Lovin Malta is informed that a police investigation which a magistrate ordered last May has found no evidence of wrongdoing against Capo Mulini owner Albert Buttigieg.
Buttigieg was charged with money laundering last year following a police investigation into companies linked to Darren Debono, a former footballer who has been charged with money laundering.
Debono’s stepdaughter Florinda Sultana, who runs the Valletta restaurant Porticello, was also charged.
Florinda Sultana (inset) runs the restaurant Porticello
Police reportedly suspect that Buttigieg and Sultana laundered money from oil smuggling but have yet to clarify their suspicions of the money trail in court.
During a sitting against Buttigieg last May, IT court expert Martin Bajada was called to present evidence he had gleaned from the restaurateur’s electronic devices after they had been seized by police.
Bajada said a USB stick was found in Buttigieg’s possession which contained footage which was originally taken by a hidden camera that was installed inside a ladies’ toilet. He said the footage consisted of 14,000 images, although that was believed to refer to the number of stills gleaned from one or more videos.
He didn’t say where and when the footage was filmed and who filmed it, and magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech called on the police to investigate it.
Following reports and speculation, the magistrate clarified in a sitting in June that she had never said the footage was taken by Buttigieg himself or that it was filmed at a restaurant cubicle.
During that same sitting, a court-appointed administrator testified that Porticello was forced to operate on a cash-only basis as no bank would open an account for Sultana, prompting defence lawyer Stefano Filletti to criticise the state for “putting people’s backs to the wall”.
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