South American sex workers gave pimps half their earnings, rent and flight costs, court hears
Two women from Colombia and Venezuela testified in the court proceedings against an alleged Maltese human trafficking ring, describing the way they were encouraged to take up sex work in Malta and how they split their earnings with their pimps.Magist
Two women from Colombia and Venezuela testified in the court proceedings against an alleged Maltese human trafficking ring, describing the way they were encouraged to take up sex work in Malta and how they split their earnings with their pimps.
Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech insisted that the victims be only brought to testify once, warning the prosecution the court would not allow any secondary victimisation of the witnesses.
The two women testified by video-link, and form part of some 50 people left to testify in a case that saw 11 arrests take place on 12 August, with nine people in court facing charges of money laundering and immoral earnings, apart from other prostitution-related charges.
Assisted by parte civile lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, the two witnesses explained that they were first introduced to the prospect of travelling to Malta by a friend, before leaving on a ticket financed by the Maltese organisation.
Once they arrived in Malta, they had to pay back the flight ticket, as well as rent for their apartment - which was shared with other sex workers - and hand over practically half of their earnings to their pimps, the court heard.
One of the accused, Clint d'Amato, was identified as their fixer by both witnesses, but under a different alias, 'Elmo' and 'Miguel'.
The Venezuelan witness travelled to Malta back in March 2024, with an intention to overstay and enter prostitution at the behest of the traffickers, the court heard. One witness said she was promised a good pay "and no problems".
She said she charged clients €100 for one hour of sex work, keeping 55% of her earnings. "The work didn't have fixed hours. If I woke up at 10am I could start work then. Two, three hours, as much as my body could take."
D'Amato would forward the clients, effectively taking calls through the prostitute's WhatsApp number that was displayed on an online profile page for sex workers, the court heard. Clients would enter the apartment, explain the services required, and if she refused, they would have to leave. "If I finished working at 2pm, I would message 'Miguel' and he would tell me to calculate my dues and leave the money on the table for him."
The witness said she paid some €750 in rent every month, on top of the percentage she passed on to a pimp, as well as the €3,350 'loan' that represented her flight ticket to Malta. "I came here with debt for the flight. So when the client paid me, I took all the money and then I would do the sums and hand everything over to Miguel."
She added that she hoped to raise money to buy a house and pay for an operation for her daughter, "and have a better future."
She said she could see around six clients a day, and potentially earn even up to €1,700 when including tips; by 1 August, she estimated that she was owed €5,000 but that she was not transferred the entirety of those earnings by her pimp. "When the police came to our apartment, I was frightened, even though I needn't have been. They found my notebook and asked who it belonged to, but I said nothing. I told them it was mine, later at the police station."
She added that new women were moving into the flat, also sex workers. The premises was monitored by small cameras, one inside and the other outside the building.
The second witness, a Colombian 20-year-old, recounted a similar experience where an online acquaintance encouraged her to travel to Malta.
The witness revealed she had already carried out sex work in Medellin, where she was called a 'company woman' rather than a prostitute. She was a beautician by trade but had carried out sex work for people she met on Tinder. Malta was proposed to her as a destination close to Bilbao, Spain, where she would be able to move and leave the sex trade after saving enough.
She was picked up by D'Amato from the airport upon her arrival, who would also accompany her on €150 outcalls to clients, the court heard.
She too was obliged to pay back her flight, which she estimated at around €1,200 (5 million Colombian pesos).
Background
The nine suspects were arrested during an early morning raid last week across various Malta localities on Monday, 12 August.
The defendants are: Luke Farrugia, 36, from Birkirkara; Clint D'Amato 36, from Gudja; Denzil Farrugia, 19; Alexandra Suhov Procora, a 32-year old Romanian woman residing at St Paul's Bay, who told the court she was an accountant; Nicolae Efimov, 37 also Romanian and residing in St Paul's Bay; Kane Vassallo, 22, from Siggiewi; Luca Emanuele Corito, 21, from Isla; Dylan McKay, 30, from Fgura; and Gordon Cassar, 44 from Żebbuġ.
All nine are charged with money laundering, promoting or setting up a criminal organisation, forcing individuals over 21 years of age into prostitution, holding persons against their will in a brothel as bonded debtors, knowingly living off the earnings of prostitution and running a brothel.
All accused will remain in custody at the Corradino Correctional Facility for the time being.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Robert Montalto, Marion Camilleri, Mario Mifsud, Nicholas Mifsud, Charles Merceica, Etienne Borg Ferranti, Kathleen Calleja Grima and Michaela Giglio are assisting the individual defendants.
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