Twist in case of Sydney Hilton Hotel jeweller Michel Germani

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Germani Jewellery owner Michel Germani has been charged with a string of offences over what police allege was the planned robbery of his own store inside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney's CBD early last year 

A co-accused and key witness in the alleged staged $2.8million robbery of a high-end jewellery store will not give evidence, a court has been told, as the Sydney businessman accused of setting up the fraudulent heist of his own shop was again denied bail.

Germani Jewellery owner Michel Germani has been charged with a string of offences over what police allege was the planned robbery of his own store inside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney's CBD early last year.

The Crown prosecution told the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday that in early 2023 Mr Germani was in financial trouble, which provided his motivation for the alleged offence.

The Crown alleges he conspired with his co-accused, Giulia Penna - who has been charged with several offences, including aggravated robbery and remains before the courts - to recruit the two fake robbers.

Police were called to Mr Germani's store on January 19 last year and found him and another staff member bound by their hands and legs using cable ties.

CCTV showed the two alleged fake robbers enter the store, under the guise of viewing a piece of jewellery, before demanding staff empty the contents of several safes into a bag.

The Crown prosecution told the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday that in early 2023 Mr Germani was in financial trouble, which provided his motivation for the alleged offence. Mr Germani is pictured with his wife Coco

Mr Germani later made an insurance claim for 164 items with a wholesale value of $2.8million and a retail value of $7.5million.

Mr Germani allegedly staged the robbery in order to defraud his insurer, the court was told.

He was charged with aggravated robbery and depriving a person of liberty, attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, publishing false misleading material to obtain property, and participating in a criminal group.

He has been in prison on remand since his arrest in May last year and his barrister Matthew Kalyk on Tuesday appeared before the Supreme Court in a bid for the businessman to be released on bail.

Mr Kalyk told the court that Ms Penna was originally planning to give evidence against Mr Germani; however, that was no longer the case.

'The absence of her evidence leaves a significant hole in the Crown case,' Mr Kalyk said.

The court was told that on January 11, 2023, a man named Joseph Esber allegedly contacted police and claimed that Mr Germani 'was seeking persons to commit a robbery at his jewellery store to make a fraudulent insurance claim'.

Mr Kalyk told the court that Mr Esber had been convicted of more than 100 offences, including fraud.

He argued that the reliability of Mr Esber's evidence affected the strength of the Crown case.

Police were called to Mr Germani's store on January 19 last year and found him and another staff member bound by their hands and legs using cable ties 

The court was told that Mr Esber was not being treated as a person of interest in the case, which Mr Kalyk described as 'significant' and questioned why he was not being questioned by police.

Crown prosecutor Burton Ko told the court that police were relying on a number of pieces of circumstantial evidence, including telephone intercepts and mobile data.

The court was told that mobile telephone tower data placed Mr Germani and Ms Penna, as well as other co-accused, in the same area on the morning of the robbery.

It was alleged that Mr Germani met with Ms Penna and the two alleged robbers at her Strathfield home on the morning of the alleged offence.

'If the applicant's claim is true that Ms Penna was responsible and he wasn't responsible for what happened, it would mean that, on the Crown case, that the applicant met the very people some hours before those two people robbed Mr Germani, and Ms Penna was present,' Mr Ko said.

The court was told that Mr Germani offered $150,000 in surety through a number of supporters, and $600,000 in equity had been offered by a business associate.

Despite Mr Kalyk's estimate that Mr Germani might not face trial until the middle of next year, Justice Stephen Rothman denied his bail application.