No case to answer for in restaurant peeping tom investigation

Police investigating a Marsaxlokk restaurant owner over allegations of having found peeping tom footage on his electronic devices have concluded that there is no case to answer for.

Capo Mulini owner Albert Buttigieg was investigated after a court expert testifying about electronic devices seized from Buttigieg in relation to a money laundering probe, told a court in May that he had found thousands of photos of women in toilets evidently taken with hidden cameras.

Sources close to the investigation have told MaltaToday that the images were not taken from the bathroom of the restaurant in question.

The expert witness tasked to analyse the 32 electronic devices - 28 USB devices, micro SD cards, mobile phones and laptops - seized by the police from the accused, said that he found some 14,000 photos that appeared to have come from hidden cameras in female toilets. The expert did not specify whether the spy cameras were placed in the restaurant toilets.

Presiding magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech had ordered the police commissioner to investigate the cache of images.

After investigating the images, the police concluded that there was no crime.

The money laundering court case against Buttigieg and co-accused Florinda Sultana is unaffected by the conclusion of the police investigation and will continue.