Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1130632
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JUNE 2019 MATTHEW VELLA WHEN the businessman Mar- co Gaffarena was paid over €1 million by the State to ex- propriate his 50% share in a Valletta palazzo that housed a government office, the scan- dal kindled interest in theQor- mifamily scion's wealth. In 2015, Marco Gaffare- na was implicated in the Old Mint Street scandal, when he was gifted with a €1 million cash-and-lands deal from the State, in return for what was then the illegal expropriation of his half-share in the palazzo housing the Building Industry Consultative Committee. To benefit from the irregular expropriation of just his 50% ownership of the building – buildings either get expropri- ated as a whole, or nothing – he neededwilling people in- side the executive who could put civil servants under some pressure to cooperate. But even before that, he needed the information on which property to ac- quire; which govern- ment functionary would mostly recommend the part-expropria- tion of a private house being rented by the State; and how fast to close the deal – he managed to clinchasecond q u a r t e r - s h a r e right after hav- ing been granted an expropriation deal for the first quarter. Perhaps that is the kind of business acu- men that sets Gaffa- rena apart from oth- ers. For, in a court case in which the property owner is objecting to a property tax assessment,acurious acquisi- tionhas now come to light. Mark's emphyteusis In May 2015, Gaffarena be- came the owner of a fraction of a ground lease for an en- tire row of houses on a side- street off the Sliema Strand. It was just three-fortieths of a lease that had started on 1January,1878– the year the peaceful fishing village, then a summer resort for the wealthy families of Valletta, became an independent parish. The lease was originally for the houses 16, 17, 18, and 19 Sliema Wharf – the mod- ern-day Strand – which would eventually become the tene- ment that will house the de- funct Carlton Theatre, and later the St Michael's depart- ment store, the precursortothe Marks &Spencer'sbrand. For just €13,500 – a paltry sum – Gaffarena had acquired four-fortieths of that 150-year lease from heirs Stephanie Galea, Abigail Attard, Zach- ary Galea, Lee Jonathan Borg and Catherine Spiteri. He had already had dealings with the family: two years earlier he acquired their Sliema prop- ertyon Manuel Dimech Str for €72,000. But the 1878 lease on the Strand houses was worth just an annual €4.37 in ground rent. By 2028, the ground rent of the successful and popu- lar Marks & Spencer, which had been developed instead of the houses, would be up for a review on its precious Slie- maland. It was a gold mine – andGaf- farena had now become the owner of 10% of that lease. He also acquired from the same sellers, their share of another 1878 lease – just one-twelfth – on the entire row of houses in the street running up the side of Marks &Spencer, from 1 to 45 St Rita Street. As with every property trans- fer, the Commissioner for In- land Revenue dispatched one of its architects to carry out a valuation of the first 3/40 share thatGaffarenahad acquired for €10,000 (the other 1/40th was acquired separately). The architect was CarmelCa- copardo, as it happened, the chairperson for the Green Party. As technical expert for the CIR, Cacopardo deemed that the value of the 3/40 share NEWS Opera onal Programme II - European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Inves ng in human capital to create more opportuni es and promote the well-being of society" Project part-financed by the European Social Fund Co-financing rate: 80% European Union; 20% Na onal Funds Eyeing the future… A cAreer As An OrthOptist Or An OptOmetrist ESF 02.053 Developing Allied Health Capacity to Sustain Health Care Needs Ministry for HealtH Orthoptists are Allied Health Professionals who are trained to diagnose and treat ocular motility and problems related to the development of vision. Optometrists are Allied Health Professionals trained in correcting vision in adults with the use of spectacles, lenses or special lenses and are responsible for the screening of eye disease. eU funded project to follow a Bachelor's Degree leading to a career in Orthoptics or Optometry For more information +356 2545 6831 | +356 2545 6886 deputyprimeministercms.gov.mt/en/ahcs/Pages/overview.aspx Six architects cannot agree ownership... of a 'part' of Marks Taxman claims Gaffarena's acquisition of emphyteusis is undervalued The buildings housing the Marks & Spencer store (right, in yellow): originally, the lease on the Sliema Wharf houses was signed back in 1878 for 150 years. It will expire in 2028. Mark Gaffarena (left) acquired 10% of that lease