Ex-lawyer Patrick Spiteri is granted bail but won't leave prison any time soon

Disbarred laywer Patrick Spiteri, extradited to face €7.4 million fraud charge, will not be able to leave home as part of strict bail conditions but he still has to wait for other court decisions before walking out of prison

Former lawyer Patrick Spiteri has been granted bail by a court, under strict conditions which prohibit him from leaving his home.

Spiteri, who was extradited to Malta from England in May to face charges of fraud and misappropriation that total some €7.4 million has been held in custody since then, despite filing bail requests before several courts.

Although health grounds were the primary justification for his bail requests, other reasons given included the argument that he was unable to physically access the hundreds of boxes of documents he claimed to need for his defence, part of which were being held in court and another part being held in a Guardamangia property, which was been seized by HSBC.

In a decree handed down this morning, Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit observed that the proceedings were at a very advanced stage before the European Arrest Warrant was issued against him and had kept in contact with this lawyers, while he was in England receiving treatment for Behchett’s Syndrome.

The 51-year-old was arrested in a police raid on his wife’s Surrey estate, after evading the Maltese courts on eight separate cases linked to fraud and misappropriation charges.

Spiteri absconded from Malta after claiming he was unable to be present in court due to an alleged illness, which led him to go to London for treatment. He uses a walking stick.

Spiteri was finally brought to Malta in May this year after being extradited from the UK, where he lived in Surrey, to face charges of fraud and misappropriation that total some €7.4 million.

Spiteri was arrested in the UK on the strength of at least seven European Arrest Warrants.

This was the third time the Maltese authorities had attempted to bring Spiteri to Malta: he is believed to have escaped from custody the first time and had resisted the second attempt to transfer him to the island, citing a medical condition.

In her decree this morning, Magistrate Stafrace Zammit said she was not going to enter into the debate on the merits of whether the accused had opposed his re-arrest and rendition to Malta legally, but the fact was that the accused had been returned to Malta under arrest and remained in that state to this day, as there had not been any pronouncements on his bail requests.

The magistrate assessed the crimes Spiteri is accused of as “serious but not most serious”. After seeing that the accused was offering a third party guarantor and had a fixed address in Malta and after taking into consideration his documented medical condition, the former lawyer was granted bail under very strict conditions.

Aside from the monetary guarantees, Spiteri is to hand in his ID card and passport to court and he is not to leave his residence under any circumstances. Police will ensure he is abiding by the conditions by visiting three times a week.

While the decree will not result in his immediate release from prison - there are a number of other pending bail requests that must also be decided before Spiteri can be released - today’s decree is a significant step in that direction.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti is defence counsel to Spiteri.