Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1538630
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 AUGUST 2025 NEWS Stephanie Vassallo replaces Francine Farrugia as Siggiewi councillor STEPHANIE Vassallo has been elected to the Siġġiewi lo- cal council, taking over from Francine Farrugia, the Elector- al Commission announced on Tuesday. Vassallo was the only Nation- al Party candidate in the casual election. Francine Farrugia, who served as a manager within the salaries department at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), was arraigned in court in the begin- ning of the month, facing mul- tiple charges including fraud, money laundering, misappro- priation, and computer misuse. Apart from this role, Farru- gia was elected to the Siġġiewi council on the PN ticket and had even contested the general election on the fifth and sixth districts. She had failed to get elected in the general election. She resigned from her post on the council after being charged in court with embezzling €2.3 million from MCAST. Siġġiewi Mayor Julian Borg congratulated Vassallo in a Facebook post. "Congratulations to Steph- anie Vassallo, who was con- firmed this morning by the electoral commission that she will form part of the Siġġiewi Local Council. We will certain- ly continue to work for Siġġie- wi together," he said. Vassallo is a Money Launder- ing Reporting Officer at Fex- serv Fund Services. She joined the company in 2015 as a fund accountant following previous roles with other operators in the local funds industry. She also serves as assis- tant group scout leader of the Siġġiewi scout group. Francine Farrugia, who is facing charges of fraud and misappropriation, is replaced on the Siġġiewi local council by Money Laundering Reporting Officer Stephanie Vassallo JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt Stephanie Vassallo (left) replaces Francine Farrugia (right) on Siggiewi local council Il-Quws fired gunshots over money dispute, court hears MELVIN Debono 'il-Quws' ap- peared in court on Tuesday af- ternoon after his arrest over an altercation in which a gun was allegedly fired. He was charged with a plethora of offences, including maliciously discharging a lethal device, illegal weapon possession and invol- untarily causing damage to third party property. Debono was also accused of causing others fear to violence would be used against them, threatening and insulting a third party through the use of electron- ic devices. Charges further included ille- gal possession of cocaine, recidi- vism, breaching public order and breaching bail conditions. Following reports of the inci- dent in Paola, the accused was identified as Melvin Debono, also known as il-Quws, who was easi- ly identified due to his extensive criminal record. Inspector Gabriel Kitcher ex- plained civilians had informed the Paola police station that they heard several gunshots. The man involved in the argument with Debono, who cannot be named due to court order, gave his ver- sion of events to the police. Before the incident, the man was speaking on the phone with Debono and a dispute about a sum of money had arisen. Debono asked him to come to his resi- dence to discuss the matter fur- ther. According to the man, upon arriving, Debono was holding a pistol and he fired shots into the road. After the police arrived on site, he initially refused to open the door and come out. A police inspector eventually managed to convince him to give up himself. Video footage taken by the man's girlfriend showed Melvin Debono waving the pistol around. A recording of the phone call was also heard by police. The accused was heard saying "I'll riddle your children with bullet holes". In court, the suspect stated his legal rights were not read to him during his arrest, as required by law. Defence counsel Franco Debono demanded to know the identity of the person who arrest- ed him. As he pointed out, under the law, if a person is not informed of their legal rights, the arrest is invalid. He further stated that his client was not even told he was under arrest nor the reasons for it. At this stage, the sitting was suspended to wait for the police inspector involved in Debono's arrest to arrive in court. Later, inspector Mark Mercieca testified that at exactly, 10:15 pm, he informed Debono of his arrest and also gave him his legal rights. After Mercieca stepped down from the stand, Franco Debono insisted he did not mention giv- ing Melvin Debono the reasons for his arrest. Mercieca reaffirmed that he did so and said that Melvin was distracted and agitated and was not paying attention to what he was saying. After further bickering, the court was ultimately convinced that the arrest was valid. No request for bail was made. A protection order of three years was issued in favour of the victim, as well as for the two children of the man involved, following threats allegedly made against them by Debono. At first Debono did not want to sign the protection order, but eventually signed it after he was warned of the consequences of ig- noring a court order. Earlier this year in February, Il- Quws caused a high-speed crash while fleeing the police and had also assaulted his girlfriend in public just hours earlier. After this incident, he was granted bail for the sixth time by the court. In January, he was accused of breaching his curfew, one of his bail conditions. Inspector Gabriel Kitcher pros- ecuted. Defence counsel Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Anthea Bonnici Zammit appeared for Melvin Debono. Lawyer Francesca Zarb appeared parte civile. Magistrate Gabriella Vella pre- sided over the court. MAYA GALEA mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt Melvin Debono, known as il-Quws, was arrested after a brief standoff with police in Paola (File photo)