Joe Gerada has dropped libel cases he had filed against slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia after she had claimed that he visited a brothel in Germany together with economy minister Chris Cardona.

Both men had denied the claims and sued Caruana Galizia after she reported they were spotted at the FKK Acapulco brothel in Velbert, while on official business in Germany.

With Gerada and Cardona dropping their cases has effectively stopped the Caruana Galizia family from presenting evidence showing that the two men were indeed at the FKK Acapulco brothel.

In May, the two libel cases filed by Cardona against Caruana Galizia were struck off the list by the Magistrates’ Court after the minister did not show up in court and the defendant made a formal cancellation request.

The journalist had cited an anonymous eyewitness, another Maltese customer at the brothel, who said he recognised Cardona. The minister retaliated by going for the nuclear option of asking the court to serve Caruana Galizia with a garnishee order amounting to €46,000. This effectively froze Caruana Galizia’s bank accounts and on the fateful day of 16 October Caruana Galizia was on her way to the bank see whether she could access her accounts.

After Caruana Galizia’s lawyers requested the court to order the preservation of data stored on Transferred Account Procedure (TAP) files, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale ordered the preservation of mobile telephony data which will shed light upon the whereabouts of Cardona and Gerada.

Although both men have vehemently denied visiting the brothel the data showing their whereabouts will be irretrievably lost .