Brothel raids | Maltese brothel-keepers granted bail after guilty plea

Three individuals have been granted bail pending sentencing, after they were charged this morning in connection with Tuesday's police raids on brothels operating under the guise of massage parlours.

Sheldon Falzon, 33 and Lydon Falzon, 31 of Guardamangia, together with Nadia Dimech, 31, of Msida, were arraigned under arrest before magistrate Claire Louise Stafrace by Inspector John Spiteri.

The Falzons were charged with living off the earnings of prostitution while Dimech was charged with participating in the operation of a brothel. All three accused pleaded guilty to the charges.

The arraignment comes less than 24 hours after six Ukrainian women were charged with operating a brothel or benefitting from the proceeds of prostitution – the result of a police raid on massage parlours believed to be fronts for prostitution. The police had carried out covert observation operations prior to the raids.

After asking members of the press to leave the room, the court permitted defence lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha, appearing for Lydon Falzon and Nadia Dimech and lawyer Yanika Bugeja, for Sheldon Falzon, to approach the bench where they discussed the case at great length.

Only snippets of dialogue could be heard. At one point, a conditional discharge was mooted. “You need to see her part in the crime,” Michael Sciriha was heard saying. The court did not appear to favour the suggestion, at least initially.

The sitting resumed after some 30 minutes of private discussion.

Inspector Spiteri said he would be exhibiting a shotgun and an A3 envelope full of cash that was found at Lydon Falzon's home, together with another envelope, containing what police suspected to be cannabis grass and resin. As the money was not found at the massage parlour, the court permitted the release of the cash.

The court announced that it would be delivering its sentence on 23 March. Bail was granted against a personal guarantee of €5000. The accused were not required to sign a bail book or observe a curfew, but were ordered to deposit their passport and ID card in court. No bail deposit was taken.

The granting of bail to the alleged operators of the brothel is expected to draw unfavourable comparisons with the law's treatment of the prostitutes themselves. Four of the Ukrainian women charged yesterday were handed suspended sentences and recommended for repatriation after pleading guilty, but the two women who did contest the charges were denied bail, being remanded in custody due to fears that they would not turn up for court sittings.