Accused in luxury car theft was keeping cars safe after their owner died, court told

The Magistrates’ Court decided that there is enough evidence for Adrian Muscat, known as “Il-Galletta”, to face trial over the theft of luxury vehicles estimated to be worth around €1 million.

Muscat is facing charges of money laundering and theft of an Audi S7, a Bentley Continental and a Rolls-Royce Ghost that were removed from the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel in Balluta at the beginning of February.

During Friday’s hearing, the accused testified that he removed vehicles after he “heard” that their owner, Ibrahim Halim, had died. According to Muscat, the purpose was to keep the cars in a safe place until the children of the deceased arrive in Malta from abroad.

The police explained that analysis of CCTV footage showed a tow truck removing one of the vehicles at around 4:00pm on 2 February. Further investigations established that Muscat was the one who contacted the MET Towing company to remove these cars on the same day.

One of the vehicles transported, a Bentley Continental, was registered under Halim’s name and was reported missing before he was found dead in Park Towers, St. Julian’s.

While the police were looking for the missing vehicles, a person who knew the owner started looking for the Rolls-Royce. It later turned out that there was an agreement with the defendant to return the vehicle, but the meeting was postponed.

Inspector Shawn Pawney said in court that Muscat voluntarily went to police headquarters the next day and “fully cooperated” with the investigation. He also said that the defendant claimed that “his friend” had taken two other cars that were also registered in Halim’s name.

Police found one of the vehicles outside Muscat’s showroom, while two other cars were found in a field. Pawney confirmed that there is a separate investigation into other vehicles that were removed by third parties.

Under cross-examination by lawyer Franco Debono, the inspector confirmed that three other vehicles registered in Halim’s name were taken by different people, not by the defendant.

At the end of the hearing, the defense requested changes in the conditions of release from custody, including an extension of the curfew from 9pm to midnight and a reduction in the frequency of signing the bail book. The prosecution objected and claimed that any changes must be supported by evidence in light of the seriousness of the charges.

The court will later decide on this request.

The case was presided over by Magistrate Leonard Caruana.

The prosecution was led by the lawyer of the Attorney General Luigi Gulia, and Inspector Shawn Pawney.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Matthew Xuereb appeared for the defendant, while Charles Mercieca and John Refalo appeared parte civile.

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