Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1389773
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 JULY 2021 NEWS By means of a decree given by the First Hall Civil Court, on the 26th May, 2021, in the records of the Sworn Application in the names Claude Camilleri vs Charter Properies Limited (C69311), Application number 187/21, RGM, the following publication was ordered for the purpose of service of the respondent company Charter Properties Limited (C69311) in terms of Article 187(3) et sequitur of Cap. 12. By means of a Sworn Application,filed, in the First Hall Civil Court, in the names Claude Camilleri (ID 542191M) vs Charter Properties Limited (C69311) on the 2nd March, 2011, the applicant Claude Camilleri (ID 542191M) asked this Honourable Court, 1. To pro- ceed to give judgement according to the demand of the applicant without proceeding to a hearing to the Application in terms of Ar- ticle 167 et sequitur of Cap. 12 of the Laws of Malta, condemn the respondent company to pay the applicant the sum of twenty one thousand five hundred euro (€21,500) besides legal interest due from the 30th December, 2020, till the date of effective payment. With costs against the respondent company as demanded in the application, from now summoned so that a reference to its evi- dence be made. The Sworn Application in the names Claude Camilleri vs Charter Properties Limited (C69311), Application number 187/21 RGM, has been deferred for hearing to the 13th July, 2021, at 9.20 a.m. Notify: Charter Properties Limited, Lara Buildings, Triq Giuseppi Calì, Iklin Registry of the Superior Courts, today 28th June, 2021 ADV. FRANK PORTELLI, LLD For the Registrar, Civl Courts and Tribunals MATTHEW AGIUS A judge has ordered Bank of Valletta (BOV) to exhibit man- uals containing its anti-mon- ey laundering procedures in a case filed by an international art specialist over a scam which funnelled some €6 million into a non-existent Libyan company set up by former Labour Par- ty treasurer and candidate Joe Sammut. The commercially sensitive documents will be kept under lock and key by the judge, who will limit access to the lawyers of the parties and will not allow copies to be made. In court proceedings which began in 2013, art expert Pierre Amrouche is accusing Bank of Valletta of being negligent in its client due diligence after his manager Henri Baudet, used €6 million from a fund intended for art transactions, to invest in a 'Libyan project' run by Belgian national Dirk Borgers and Tu- nisian national Maher Mellouli. The cash eventually passed through BOV accounts held by a host of companies set up in Malta by auditor Joe Sammut, for Mellouli. Baudet was later convicted of forgery and breach of trust by a Geneva court. A Maltese court also ordered him to return €750,000 processed via Maltese bank accounts. The court hearing the Am- rouche case, presided by Mr. Justice Robert Mangion, was re- quested by the plaintiffs to order BOV to exhibit its manuals on client onboarding, client mon- itoring and suspicious trans- action reporting which were in force between 2007 and 2015. The action for damages was filed after the bank allegedly failed to honour its statutory ob- ligations and report suspicious transactions, as well as allow- ing bank accounts to be opened without carrying out the neces- sary due diligence. The court, in a decree dated 21 June, noted that the request for the documents was "specific and did not appear to be aimed at carrying out a fishing expe- dition." During sittings, it was clarified that only specific rel- evant sections of the manuals were being requested. "In the case at hand, this court feels it is necessary that it has all the relevant information before it in order to be able to arrive at a decision which is in the in- terests of all the parties to this case." It also said that the docu- ments were relevant evidence to the case at hand. The court ordered that only the evidence relating to the pe- riod 2009-2011 be brought be- fore it. With regards to safeguards re- lating to the protection of the commercially sensitive docu- ments from publicity, the court ruled that all of the documents in question be sealed and made accessible only to the court and the lawyers of the parties, with- out the facility of making copies. The court would return the doc- uments to the bank after court proceedings were concluded, it said. Testimony by bank officials in this case would also be sealed and protected in the same man- ner, as well as being heard be- hind closed doors, added the judge. Lawyer Matthew Paris is rep- resenting Pierre Amrouche. BOV must show judge due diligence manuals in art fraud case Christie's art expert Pierre Amrouche