Former judge asked to influence judgement on drug baron

Former judge Raymond Pace was granted bail against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €20,000 today, after he stood in the dock accused of bribery, trading in influence and money-laundering, in an alleged attempt to influence an increase in the prison sentence of a drug convict at the behest of rival drug barons. He will have to sign in at the Birkirkara police station every Monday and Friday.

The request for bail was opposed by the Attorney General and police prosecutor's office. Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti said that on arraignment, the court had heard long submissions for bail, and the only argument by the prosecution to have Pace detained was because of a number of civilian witnesses were yet to be heard.

The Attorney General claimed there was fear that evidence would be tampered with.

Filletti said that co-accused Sandro Psaila and Raymond Caruana had already been granted bail. "What is different for my client? The right to freedom is a right protected by the Constitution, and the prosecution must be clear and solid in its argument to have bail denied.

"If the prosecution believes that Pace be denied bail, the prosecution must definitely state the facts to sustain its fear of tampering with evidence.

"His reputation as a lawyer and Judge is intact for 30 years. And it is here to stay. God forbid that our lives are dictated by possibility. This fear must be real, founded and probable."

Raymond Pace's assets have also been frozen since his arraignment.

Evidence

In the compilation of evidence against Pace, it was revealed that the former judge availed himself of free meals at the Steak House restaurant of Bugibba, expenses-paid repairs for his daughter's car, and a CCTV system for his home paid for by the co-accused in his case.

Pace spent the last four nights since being arraigned, under preventive custody at Mount Carmel hospital's forensic unit, and entered Magistrate Neville Camilleri's courtroom escorted by two uniformed police officers.

Pace, 54 of Attard, submitted his resignation as a member of the judiciary last Saturday, when he was granted permission by the Courts to be escorted to San Anton Palace for a brief meeting with the President of the Republic, George Abela.

The former judge sat quietly, his head bowed down, assisted by lawyers Stefano Filletti and Joe Mifsud.

Ray Pace's wife Lynn could not be present inside the courtroom, as she is a witness to the case, while his two daughters and son sat behind him and followed the proceedings.

Paul Galea of St Paul's Bay, a chef who co-owns the Steak House in Bugibba, was also was the first witness in the case. He owns the restaurant together with Sandro Psaila, 40 of Valletta, who is separately accused of bribing the judge.

Galea recognised the former judge as the person who had presided over a civil court his father had been involved in ten years ago.

"I met the judge last July after I saw him exiting the nearby cinema. I offered him a drink, and afterwards introduced him to Sandro Psaila, and he ate there some six times.

"Sandro Psaila used to call me to tell me that Pace was going to eat at the restaurant, and also tell me about Raymond Caruana," - the other co-accused in the case - "After some time, Psaila used to grumble with me that Pace eats and leaves without paying the bill."

The witness was challenged by prosecuting police superintendents Norbert Ciappara and Paul Vassallo to tell the truth about his version of facts, regarding a statement he made before the magistrate that Psaila was angry that Pace never paid his bills.

The prosecution ordered that the telephone interceptions, which the Malta Seucirty Services carried out, are played in court.

In a telephone intercept made on 1 December, Galea is heard telling Psaila: "What cheek this man has. He comes here and expects to eat for free. I repaired his car and so many other things... listen we don't need him here anymore."

Godfrey Scicluna, head of the Malta Security Services presented the courts with copies of discs with telephone intercept recordings, and the legal warrants which authorised the intercepts.

The warrants concerned Sandro Psaila and Raymond Caruana, 51 of Zebbug, who have been separately charged with bribing the former judge.

Questioned again, Galea said that Psaila blamed him for letting the judge into the restaurant and then letting him eat for free. "I told him that the judge presided over the civil case regarding my father's tragic death at the dockyard."

Galea said Pace would also dine with Caruana and never pay for the meals.

Other witnesses

Leonard Scicluna of Mosta, who owns a security camera installation business, told the court that he was engaged to do works by Raymond Caruana to install a CCTV camera system on Pace's home in Attard and in a garage in Santa Venera.

"Caruana didn't tell me for whom the CCTV cameras were. I recognise the person today in the court room," as he pointed to the former judge sitting in the dock.

The witness explained that it was Raymond Caruana who paid the €1,300 for the installation of the CCTV cameras.

Joseph Borg, a mechanic from San Gwann, testified that three weeks ago Raymond Caruana had asked him to do some work on a Mini Cooper car belonging to Ray Pace's daughter. The cost of the repairs was €1,300 and Raymond Caruana was to foot the bill. The car was collected on December 8.

Borg's wife Rita recognised Pace in the dock as the man who accompanied Raymond Caruana when they went to collect the car from her husband's garage on December 8.

The investigation into Pace started on 11 December, when Commissioner of Police John Rizzo summoned police inspector Norbert Ciappara to his office, over a suspected allegation of bribery.

The investigation concerned Sandro Psaila and Raymond Pace, who had been under constant surveillance in investigations regarding serious crime and drug trafficking.

When arrested, Psaila and Caruana initially denied any knowledge of any attempt to bribe for the judge. But Caruana later admitted that drug convict Darren Desira - sentenced back in November to 18 years on drug trafficking charges - owed him some €100,000 and that he had asked Pace to influence the judgement to have him jailed for a long time.

Pace was later brought in for questioning.

Defence lawyer Joe Mifsud argued for the transcripts of the telephone conversations to be prepared, before being played in open court. There are a total of 79 telephone calls which are relevant to the case.

Superintendent Norbert Ciappara said that when interrogating Raymond Caruana, he initially denied knowing the Judge, but later admitted to having spoken to Sandro Psaila and agreed to pressure the Judge over Darren Desira's sentencing.

According to Ciappara, Raymond Caruana said that Darren Desira owed him €100,000 and wanted to pay him back for not having paid the debt.