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5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS 'I'll take care of your children' In July 2010, Gialanze's step-sister, Ol- ivia Mallia, gave birth to her fifth child. She asked her step-brother to be the child's godparent during the baptism. Mallia testified in court that after the baptism, Gialanze had asked her to help him set up his own business by acting as a guarantor with her residence for a bank loan. She was initially reluctant but Gialanze played on her emotions. Mallia had un- dergone two cancer treatment opera- tions between 2007 and 2008, and given her state, Gialanze said the business would enable him to take care of and fi- nancially sustain her children if she died. Mallia testified in court that she finally gave in to the proposal and on 22 Sep- tember 2010, she appeared as guaran- tor on a contract with HSBC in which the bank loaned Gialanze and his wife €175,000. In fact Furtseva had briefly returned back from Russia to give Mallia a power of attorney to appear on her behalf on the contract drawn up by notary Patricia Hall. The sanction letter submitted in court indicates that the loan was given to "end-finance the purchase of property abroad". No details have emerged as to what this property may have been. Furtseva insisted she did not know why her husband needed the money or how it was spent. Gialanze's step-sister also as- sumed it was for her brother's business. Mallia's house was the first guaran- tee on the contract and Gialanze's San Gwann flat appeared as a secondary guarantee, despite still being hypoth- ecated for the original home loan. Court records show that contrary to normal practice, HSBC disbursed the amount to Gialanze in two cash transac- tions. And despite the loan being issued on both him and his wife, the disburse- ment payslips were only signed by Gi- alanze. 'Big problems and angry people' The details of this case emerge from a court case that Mallia subsequently filed against her step-brother and his wife, asking them for compensation after HS- BC threatened to take possession of her house when the couple stopped paying the bank. Court testimony reveals how Mallia only became aware of the precarious sit- uation in August 2012 when she chanced upon bank correspondence at her grand- mother's house. The HSBC correspondence warned Gi- alanze that the bank would start proce- dures to foreclose on the property put up as a guarantee. Mallia confronted her brother about the matter and he admitted having dif- ficulty finding the money to pay back the loan. Gialanze agreed to liquidate a life policy but the money was not enough. In October that year, while on a short trip abroad, Gialanze wired his sister some money to cover the October re- payment. A month later, Gialanze went missing, leaving his step-sister to face the music. Mallia suffered an arson attack in April 2013 when unknown individuals set fire to the front door of her house. She told the court that after her brother vanished, she passed through a difficult period be- cause Gialanze left "big problems and angry people". Mallia eventually reached an agree- ment with HSBC to pay them a lump sum and settle the bill. Gialanze's fa- ther had reimbursed her to the tune of €48,000 but Mallia sued her missing brother and his wife, asking them to pay her back €30,000. The case was decided last June when Judge Mark Chetcuti ruled that Gialanze and Furtseva should pay Mallia the re- quested sum. Conning vulnerable man There was another victim of Gialanze however: just seven months after con- vincing his step-sister to shore him up in 2010, Gialanze again used his persuasive power to convince a certain Mario Pace to act as guarantor on a €200,000 loan he was requesting from Bank of Valletta. Pace had suffered a debilitating injury while working in Libya some years back and could not work. He also suffered from mental problems with his thera- pists testifying in court that he was a vul- nerable person. At the start of 2011, Pace faced a bill of €5,000 to redeem the lease on his Mar- saxlokk residence. He could not pay and asked his cousin, Mark Pace, for help. Mark Pace introduced Mario to Terence Gialanze. This was the start of a saga that sees Mario Pace fighting in court to save his only house from foreclosure till this very day. Gialanze had offered to pay Mario Pace's €5,000 bill if he used his house as collateral for a loan he was seeking from BOV. The deal was presented as "a busi- ness venture". The loan turned out to be an overdraft facility to the tune of €200,000, which Gialanze was supposed to have used for his business venture. In April 2011, Gialanze obtained the fi- nance from BOV with Pace appearing as guarantor on the contract drawn up by notary Patricia Hall. But a serious omission from the con- tract was the fact that no reference was made of Gialanze as a married man. Ac- cording to public records, Gialanze was still married to Furtseva and the notary failed to attach with the contract any deed indicating otherwise. During court proceedings, Furtseva declared: "I was married to Terence Gi- alanze from the year 2007. I am still mar- ried to him but he is missing." Court records show that Gialanze was pressuring Mario Pace to decide quickly because the BOV Gzira branch manager with whom he had a good rapport was going to be replaced. It transpires that Gialanze knew one of the customer re- lationship officials at the bank and in Facebook photos deposited in court, Gi- alanze is seen embracing this bank offi- cial during a social occasion. Testifying, the official, who lives in Ibragg, could not recall when the photo was taken. Pace never received the promised €5,000 to settle his housing bill despite repeated attempts to get Gialanze to pay up. In January 2015, BOV opened a court case against Gialanze and Mario Pace, to recoup the outstanding debt. The case is ongoing. 'Spitting blood' But Pace's saga did not end with the BOV loan. Seven months later, in No- vember 2011, Pace was coaxed into pro- viding a guarantee for another private loan, of €100,000, which Gialanze had taken from an individual by the name of Anthony Mizzi. The matter is subject to another court case, which is awaiting judgment. Mizzi had testified in court that the money he gave Gialanze was not a loan but an investment in Gialanze's import business. Mizzi described how Gialanze would give him a cut of the profits from the business venture, although he had no re- cords of the number of containers that were imported. At one point, between the 'capital in- vestment' and profits that were rein- vested in the business, Mizzi claimed €177,000. But when repayments of profits became erratic, Mizzi insisted that Gialanze pro- vide a guarantee for the €100,000 invest- ment. This is where Pace entered the picture for a second time. Pace's Marsaxlokk house was put up as a guarantee in a constitution of debt con- tract drawn up by notary Rosalyn Aqui- lina between Gialanze and Mizzi. Once again, Gialanze was listed as sin- gle and no proof was attached to the con- tract to indicate this was the case. The notary also "assumed" Mizzi had his wife's permission to enter into the contract without exhibiting any power of attorney. Testifying in this case, Pace told the court that before he disappeared, Gi- alanze had gone crying to him, alleging that Mizzi's loan was usury and that he was charging him high interest rates on repayments. Pace also told the court that he had gone to see Gialanze at his office in Mrieħel and found him "spitting blood". Pace claimed that Gialanze told him he had an altercation with Mizzi. Mizzi has denied these claims, insisting that the money was not a loan but an investment. When questioned in court why he chose to act as guarantor for a second time despite having been let down by Gialanze, Pace insisted he had no choice. "Terence Gialanze told me he needed this money to be able to unlock the over- draft before he could pay me," Pace testi- fied. After Gialanze's disappearance, Pace opened court proceedings against Mizzi, asking the court to annul the contract in which his house is listed as collateral. The case awaits judgment. The court cases paint a desperate pic- ture of a young man who, aided by ac- commodating banks and notaries, was wallowing in debt while trying to main- tain a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars and boats. Gialanze's sweet-talking got him so far and after disappearing in 2012, he left a trail of destruction that continues to hurt vulnerable people until today. Before he disappeared, Gialanze, crying, alleged the loan was usury and that he was being charged high interest rates. Gialanze was in the Mrieħel office, "spitting blood" Contrary to normal practice, HSBC disbursed a €175,000 loan to Gialanze in two cash transactions. Despite the loan being issued on both him and his wife, the disbursement payslips were only signed by Gialanze Right: after defaulting on his mortgage, Gialanze makes a final €7,000 lump sum payment before his disappearance