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MALTATODAY 7 November 2018

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NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 NOVEMBER 2018 2 MATTHEW AGIUS THERE were handshakes and smiles in court as Chilean busi- nessman Alberto Chang Rajii walked out a free man after the Court of Criminal Appeal upheld a judgment preventing his extra- dition to his native Chile. Chang Rajii is wanted in Chile to face charges of investment fraud through a Ponzi scheme run by his company Grupo Arcano. He was arrested in Malta in 2016 and released on bail against a €100,000 deposit. In a decision in April 2017, the court of Magistrates had conclud- ed that the prosecution had failed to sufficiently prove that the of- fences with which Chang Rajii is accused in Chile are extraditable offences in accordance with the Palermo Convention and had dis- missed the request for his extradi- tion. The Attorney General had ap- pealed, arguing that in extradition proceedings one must not inter- pret legal concepts restrictively and neither should the court of committal delve more than nec- essary into technical legal con- cepts with a restrictive perspec- tive. The Court of Committal is to determine on a prima facie basis whether the requested person has a case to answer and whether the offences are extraditable ones at law, he had argued. Judge Antonio Mizzi, having seen the records of the case, began by observing that the only legal basis for interaction between Mal- ta and Chile is the United Nations Convention on Transnational Or- ganised Crime. The court, after analysing the law and jurisprudence, said it was bound by the reasons of the ap- peal raised by the appellant. In this case the AG had raised a number of arguments and had to stick to them, despite him presenting oth- er documents at the appeal stage. The AG had argued that the court of committal shouldn't have taken a restrictive approach in interpreting the law and that it should adopt a "broad view" when it comes to legal technicalities. But judge Mizzi disagreed. "On a practical level this would mean that a Maltese Court is ren- dered irrelevant as it must accept all that the AG declares that is ad- missible and acceptable and stop at that. Quite frankly this would usher in an era where one does not need the courts anymore…" Mizzi dismissed the argument as a "provocation" which would not be tenable in view of 150 years of legal development. The court could also not accept any of the translations forwarded by the Chilean authorities as they were not affirmed on oath by the translator. Pointing out that there was no request by the AG for the court to evaluate the evidence afresh – and so the new evidence it brought in at the appeal stage did not help it at all – the court said that the AG could not expect to overturn the decision of the court of committal "without any satisfactory reasons". Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephen Tonna Lowell assisted Chang Rajii. Criminal Appeal court declares Alberto Chang Rajii a free man Efimova facing complaints by former employers in Cyprus JAMES DEBONO FOUR properties at the end of Cospicua road, a street characterised by a uni- form row of two-floor townhouses, are earmarked for demolition to make way for a four-storey hostel and commercial development. The townhouses are located in Paola's urban conservation area. The project will also see the develop- ment of an abandoned brownfield plot, adjacent to the housing estate located in the vicinity of the Corradino mosque. The project involves the excavation of a basement and the construction of two retail units, two catering establishments and a hostel. The latest application is the fifth to be presented by landowner Joseph Cassar to develop the site. In 2002, the Planning Authority reject- ed an application to build a three-storey showroom and office. But in 2008, the PA approved the demolition of one townhouse to make way for apartments, while retaining the existing façade. The development also envisaged the devel- opment of the brownfield site, but since then the permit expired. In 2013 Cassar proposed a hotel us- ing the existing facades of the building on Cospicua road, retaining the tradi- tional architecture along the street with a modern architectural treatment along Corradino road. But the application was later with- drawn. The latest application does not foresee the preservation of the facades. New retail complex in Fgura Another 10 two-storey properties on Zabbar road in Fgura face demolition to make way for a four-storey com- mercial development, which will in- clude three underground parking lev- els, three levels of retail shops and two levels for offices. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has called on the developers Property Office Holding to redesign the project, noting that the Zabbar road houses date to the early-to-mid 20th century and form part of a "sig- nificant and legible streetscape". It called for the retention of the facades which "have evident architectural value, especially when viewed as part of the streetscape." The PA's advisory panel on design is- sues also called for the retention of the existing facades and for the develop- ment to be receded to keep in line with the Gallerija Complex which integrates well with the "quasi-pristine stretch of two storey traditional houses." Low-rise Cospicua road could get four-storey hostel CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But a magisterial inquiry has since de- creed that Efimova's testimony was con- tradictory and that her claims had not been proven. In a letter sent to the Council of Eu- rope yesterday, the Republic of Cyprus insisted that crimi- nal charges issued against Efimova and an arrest war- rant issued on 28 November 2017, were "in no way related to the case investigated by the Maltese au- thorities against Maria Efimova." The Cyprus police are in- vestigating alleged criminal offences against Efimova while she lived and worked in Cyprus, between Febru- ary 2013 and June 2014, after a complaint was filed by her former employers, the Russian-owned Cypriot company IFD Fragrance Distribution on 13 June 2014. On 28 November 2017, the Limassol district court issued a European Arrest Warrant for the of- fences against Efimova. Efimova was also charged with misappropriating monies from Pilatus Bank after her dismissal from her post three months af- ter being employed in 2016. In April 2017, Efimova be- came known as the whistle- blower who claimed to have seen Muscat's name on a declaration of trust at- testing to the ownership of the Egrant offshore com- pany. After the arrest of Pi- latus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad in the Unit- ed States in February 2018, Efimova handed herself in to Greek police in Athens, where she fought an extra- dition request by Malta's courts to face the criminal charges against her. The court refused the extradi- tion on what was deemed a minor offence. Efimova, who lived in Cy- prus four years ago before moving to Malta, claimed the "new charges" by Cypri- ot police were part of a plot to discredit her and to ex- tradite her to Malta, where she was wanted to answer for charges filed against her before the Egrant af- fair, after failing to turn up for court sittings. Efimova left Malta in August 2017, claiming she feared for her life and that of her family, after having given evidence to the prosecution on the allegations regarding the PM's wife ownership of the Panama offshore company. Efimova was said to have applied for political asylum in an unspecified European Union country. The Euro- pean Parliament asked EU member states, including Malta, to protect Efimova and grant her asylum, after a delegation led by the Por- tuguese MEP, Ana Gomes visited Malta in late No- vember 2017.

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