Father and son guilty of money laundering

A father and son from Zabbar, were found guilty of money laundering after a number of vehicles used by drug traffickers in 2010 resulted were registered in their names.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard how during the investigation of a 2010 drug case the police found that luxurious vehicles were used by the man's two other sons accused of trafficking.

A BMW Z4 and a BMW 530D resulted to be registered under the name of the siblings' father, former civil servant, Alfred Delia. The father, now a pensioner, earned €700 every four weeks, however in a single year he purchased two vehicles worth €43,000 of which €28,000 were paid in cash.

His other son, Marco Delia, 43, also from Zabbar, who at the time earned around €800 monthly, purchased a Mitsubishi costing €14,000 of which €4,660 were paid in cash.

Alfred and Marco Delia were charged with money laundering and illegal earnings.

Inspector Antonovich Muscat told the court that based on the prior investigations of the accused's relatives, there was no doubt that the vehicles were financed through illegal means.

The prosecution held that given the monthly earnings of both Alfred and Marco Delia, neither of them could have earned the amounts paid for the cars.

During the investigation Alfred Delia claimed that while the two BMWs were registered under his name the vehicles belonged and were paid for by his other son Freddie.

In fact, the two vehicles were used by Freddie Delia and his wife Diane. The other accused, Marco Delia told the court that the Mitsubishi registered under his name was used by his brother Roderick Delia.

Both Freddie and Roderick Delia had been found guilty of drug trafficking in June 2010.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke, found both father and son guilty of the charges against them and handed down an 18 month jail term to the accused, together with a fine of €5,000 each.

The court issued the seizure of the BMW Z4, a BMW 530D and the Mitsubishi and ordered the accused to pay €1,663 each in court expenses.