€800 found in pack of baby wipes
€800 in cash made from prostitution were found in a pack of baby wipes when the pack was opened in court.
Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil tore open the pack in front of Magistrate Charmaine Galea as three women were accused of living off prostitution. Going through the wipes he found the money rolled up in one of them.
The wipes were found in a massage parlour named Silver Moon Massage in Hamrun, and belonged to 56-year-old Santana Juanita.
Dilenia de la Cruz Flores and Melissa Contreras Ramirez, 28 and 24 respectively, were also accused, and pleaded guilty to prostitution and using three locations to offer their services along with Juanita.
Licensed under the name of Carmel Schembri, the three mas- sage parlours were Matson Massage, Silver Moon, and Erot Massage. Also, VAT payments and client receipts were issued under his name.
Schembri pleaded guilty to making money off prostitution.
Defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi and Inspector Busuttil both noted that the women were not treated badly, adding that this was not a case of human trafficking.
Ms Ramirez had come to Malta three times to work with Mr Schembri because she liked her employer, the inspector said. He said that €990 belong to Ms Ramirez had also been seized.
The women asked to have their phones returned to them, after the court heard how each of them had two phones - one to make contact with clients and one for personal use.
However, Inspector Busuttil refused to return the phones, saying the ones for personal use were used to make contact with Mr Schembri before coming to Malta. He conceded to giving them back their SIM cards, saying all data had been extracted.
“This is a direct consequence of their crime,” the magistrate said.
All three women were sentenced to 14 months imprisonment suspended for four years. The cash was seized.
Mr Schembri was also sentenced to 14 months imprisonment suspended for two years, but was also ordered to pay a fine of €1,500.
Martha Mifsud acted as legal aid for the three women