<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While CCTV captured two men before and after a brazen staged robbery at a high-end city jewellery store, one man notably absent from the footage has contested his alleged involvement in court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Germani Jewellers' store at </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="" title="Sydney"><span>Sydney</span></a><span>'s Hilton Hotel was robbed over 11 minutes by two men one night in January 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Its owner Michel Germani, 67, owed more than $184,000 in rent to the hotel and formed a plan to recoup funds before the store was shut down, prosecutor Cate Dodds previously told a NSW District Court jury.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/western-australia-wheatbelt-serious-concerns-missing-german-backpacker-carolina-wilga/7777a69f-b742-4956-9242-f1bd6074e7c2" rel="" target="" title="Serious concerns for German backpacker missing in Western Australia"><strong><span>Serious concerns for German backpacker missing in Western Australia</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mounir Helou, 59, and Andrea David Cusumano, 59, are jointly on trial accused of being in on the scheme.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cusumano is accused of making a phone call arranging an after-hours appointment so that the sham robbery could take place.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As their trial stretched into its seventh week today, Cusumano's barrister Peter Stitz called the case against his client "outstandingly bad", denying he was involved.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/barrister-slams-sham-heist-trials-star-witness/25b8ebc9-bc17-48c0-bdca-d5f082cff5f2" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 59-year-old was not present at two meetings planned with Germani, Helou and others before the robbery and was not there to split up the spoils afterwards.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If he's on it and knows what's going on, one, he'd be in there and, two, he'd be getting his slice," Stitz told the jury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The barrister took aim at the reliability of the crown prosecution's "star witness", a second robber present with Helou at the Germani Jewellery store.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - told police he was taking a gram of methamphetamine, also known as ice, daily at the time of the sham heist and was not sleeping.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was scattered and not really myself during this time," he wrote in a statement to police.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/recipetin-eats-cook-upset-after-beef-wellington-recipe-used-in-mushroom-lunch/b0ef8220-c17d-4aad-9094-42ebbe9d38ef" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Celebrity chef responds to mushroom verdict after recipe used by killer</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In cross-examination, he admitted taking "excessive" amounts of ice which sometimes affected his memory.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The barrister accused the thief of simply guessing Cusumano had made the phone call as alleged.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The robber had been told by Giulia Penna, who was also involved in the plot the 59-year-old had rung Germani Jewellery to make the appointment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Is that why I and Mr Cusumano are here? Because Penna told (the man) that we made the call and he believed it?" Stitz told the jury.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Because he didn't see it. There's no evidence that he heard it."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cusumano was in Penna's van when the robbers went to Bunnings to buy cable ties and gloves before the store heist.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The witness told the court that while waiting for Helou to buy the items, he had texted Penna instead of speaking, despite her sitting in front of him in the driver's seat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Stitz said this was because he did not want Cusumano in the front passenger seat to find out what was going on.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Why else would you send a text message to somebody who's two feet in front of you?" he asked.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The witness described Cusumano as "a bit simple" and "just sort of there".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Stitz said the obvious result of this for the jury was to acquit his client of the single charge of committing the staged robbery for financial advantage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The crown case, you might think, might be something that John West might reject," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In fact could you be even sure what fish we're talking about?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Germani and Helou have admitted that the robbery was fake but have claimed employee Lana Al-Khoury also knew of the plan and consented to being tied up.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They have each pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated robbery with corporal violence, while Germani alone has pleaded not guilty to one count of detaining without consent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-court-germani-jewellers-owner-michel-germani-needed-employee-to-be-victim-in-staged-robbery/96d8d77b-720c-4586-91bb-8298722bcf89" rel="" target="_blank" title='argued earlier in the trial that she was a "real victim"'><span>argued earlier in the trial that she was a "real victim"</span></a><span> which was needed to make the robbery look real.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Germani made an insurance claim for $2.8 million in jewellery "stolen" but it was refused.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial continues tomorrow.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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