Doubt over the whereabouts of missing goods worth millions of dollars could again keep a high-profile jeweller behind bars as he awaits trial for allegedly staging the robbery of his own store.
Michel Germani, the owner of Germani Jewellery in Sydney's ritzy Queen Victoria Building, faced a bail hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on fraud and other charges.
A female employee at the store was tied to a chair and threatened during the purportedly fake robbery in January 2022, after which Germani attempted to claim millions of dollars from his insurance company.
The jeweller's wife Coco and three others accused of taking part in the alleged scheme have been charged and are on bail.
While some items had been recovered, they were of poor quality and similar to "costume jewellery", leading investigators to believe the real jewellery might still be in Germani's possession, the court heard.
Justice Ian Harrison described the missing jewellery, which carried a retail value of about $7.5 million, as the "elephant in the room".
"No one knows where it is," he said.
"No one knows who's got access to it. No one knows whether it's costume jewellery or good stuff."
Germani's city-centre store was running at a loss while his wife tried to keep the business afloat with him in custody, the court heard.
While he previously designed much of the store's jewellery himself, the design process now had to be outsourced at further cost to the business.
Prosecutors argued the store's financial woes were nothing new and were in fact the motive for Germani allegedly staging the robbery.
In arguing for bail to be denied, they again raised concerns that if released Germani he could flee to either China or Italy - both of which he has visited extensively in the past.
The prospect that he could still have access to millions from the missing jewels greatly increased that risk, prosecutors said, describing a proposed $100,000 surety as insufficient.
Germani was exploring whether $600,000 worth of property could be put forward as surety by a third party, the court heard.
Justice Harrison said he intended to deliver his bail decision on Friday.
He was refused bail in the same court in March after a judge noted his wife had significant contacts with people in China, with which Australia did not have an extradition treaty.
A trial involving all five accused participants is scheduled to take place in May.
