Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472276
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JULY 2022 NEWS ny's assets. Mezen International was more of a holding company, Sammut had said, adding that it also owned "two or three boats." Former BOV chief officer Ray Aquilina also testified in 2019, explaining that at the time, the bank would carry out due dili- gence on companies and benefi- cial owners, but if the beneficial owner was already a client of the bank, as was the case here, this due diligence was not deemed necessary. Muatassim Gaddafi's widow, Dutch model Lisa Jacqueline van Goinga, submitted an af- fidavit during the proceedings asserting that Gaddafi only had one son and that the assets held by Capital Resources were "clean", adding that this had been vouched for by Sammut and others. Van Goinga stat- ed that the money had come from her late husband's busi- ness before he started working with the Libyan government, as well as a multimillion- euro insurance payment for the loss of Gaddafi's boat Che Guevara. She claimed Gaddafi had want- ed his son to inherit his estate, but when cross-examined in court, it emerged that she did not entirely understand an Ar- abic-language contract that she had signed on her wedding day. The judge questioned the wom- an's reasons for having waited several years after the birth to her son to also file a paternity claim recognising Gaddafi as the father. The court underlined the "extremely particular" circum- stances of this case, in view of the civil war in Libya and the impact it had on persons who had an interest in the outcome of this case. Not only had the conflict resulted in Muatassim Gaddafi's death but it had also made it difficult for the defend- ants to summon their witnesses and obtain the documentation requested. In view of this unique situ- ation, the court said it would seek satisfactory evidence from what had been exhibited and the legal submissions. On the plea of prescription, raised by the defendant, the judge first had to establish whether Libyan law or Maltese law applied. After taking prin- ciples discussed in authoritative legal textbooks into account, as well as the facts of the case, the court said it was of the opinion that the immediate and direct effect of the damage was the breaching of Libyan law. Also in view of the fact that the dam- age had occurred in Libyan ter- ritory, the applicable law was that of Libya, ruled the judge. The court noted that the law exhibited, which prohibited members of the Libyan mili- tary from engaging in business, only appeared to apply to con- scripts doing their mandatory two years of military service. As the companies were set up at a time when Muatassim Gaddafi had been an officer for over two years, this law did not apply, said the judge. No marriage certificate had been exhibited, said the court, but if Gaddafi and Van Goinga had indeed married each oth- er, this must have taken place in Gaddafi's final years of life. Muatassim Gaddafi must have made his fortune long before that, said the court, as it was unlikely that he was doing busi- ness deals whilst trying to put down a revolution. Mezen International's bank statements showed that Mua- tassim Gaddafi had received millions of euros in his BOV accounts. This was hard to rec- oncile with the income he had declared, even though he was alleged to be running a busi- ness, said the judge, pointing out that no concrete evidence of this business had ever been exhibited. Taking into account all the evidence he had seen, the judge said that the assets of the two companies were both tainted by the same illicit actions and had also not been declared. In view of this, the court or- dered that the assets be re- turned to the Libyan State. However, the judge also ruled that the allegation of money laundering was not sufficiently proven as it did not appear that Gaddafi had saved the money in the Maltese bank in a bid to hide it, also pointing out that the company shareholding was in his own name. Oikonomopoulos was assist- ed by lawyer Louis Cassar Pul- licino. Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was appointed by the courts to act as curator on be- half of the unknown heirs of Muatassin Gaddafi. The Dutch glamour model Lisa van Goinga was revealed to be Muatassim Gaddafi's widow, but the Maltese court questioned the woman's reasons for having waited several years after the birth to her son to also file a paternity claim recognising Gaddafi as the father Left: Playboy Muatassim. Above, capture in Sirte: moments before his death in 2011, along with his father Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator (below) Maltese fixer: Joe Sammut managed Gaddafi's BOV Visa Platinum card payments in Malta and set up his Malta companies