Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517916
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MARCH 2024 NEWS men behind the disability racket scandal? stolen clothes and two cars, a Mitsubishi Pajero and a Dai- hatsu Sirion. He again admit- ted to the charges and was giv- en a two-year prison sentence suspended for four years. In 2016, he was charged with operating illegal gaming equip- ment, particularly a Mega- touch Maxx and Miss Bowl- ing Turbo, but was acquitted as the prosecution could not prove the crime beyond rea- sonable doubt. Insurance fraud and business from Jeffrey Chetcuti Emanuel Spagnol, 69 from Żejtun, was in 2003 convict- ed of insurance fraud, having falsely reported a crime to the police and taking a false oath. According to the judgment, Spagnol told police that his Że- jtun home had been robbed on 20 February 1996, with some- one breaching the property by smashing the glass part of his front door. However, the po- lice inspector on the scene no- ticed that the front door wasn't locked. While the court said that those factors per se are not enough to find Spagnol guilty in the criminal camp, it found comfort in Spagnol's police statement, and put the onus on him to prove that the robbery did in fact happen. Spagnol was handed a two- year prison sentence suspend- ed for four years. The deci- sion was appealed but Spagnol ended up being served with a general interdiction and an interdiction from serving as a witness and as a court expert. In a separate case, Spagnol was charged with misappro- priation, making false dec- larations, and fraud, but was absolved after the court could not find enough evidence to even indict him. Spagnol is also a sharehold- er in BGL Malta Ltd, which he owns together with Kurt Carabott and Simon Gaetan Dominic Spiteri. The company shares were transferred to the three men in 2018 by former footballer Jeffrey Chetcuti, who was arrested in 2020 and charged with money launder- ing and fuel smuggling. Andy Ellul's personal driver Roger Agius, the fourth man being charged, is the former driver and canvasser for junior minister Andy Ellul. He was initially a canvasser and driver for Grixti but was roped into Ellul's campaign for the 2022 general election. By then Grix- ti had already ended his parlia- mentary career. Earlier in March, Agius filed a judicial protest against a range of entities, including the Prime Minister and State Advocate, claiming that the government's Whistleblower Office had twice ignored his offer to pro- vide information exposing this scheme, the way it operates, as well as the people behind it. The judicial protest stated that Agius had first proffered information that would "ex- pose corrupt and criminal acts within the public administra- tion" in November, writing again a month later, having been ignored on both occa- sions. The last person being charged is Luke Saliba, 33 from Msida. There is little public informa- tion on him, but his Facebook profile suggests that he oper- ates a pastizzeria in Gwarda- manga. Above: Silvio Grixti arriving at the law courts earlier this week where he was officially arraigned on charges related to fraud and organised crime Right: Grixti (right) with Roger Agius Luke Saliba in front of the Sphinx pastizzeria in Gwardamangia