Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540360
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 OCTOBER 2025 NEWS LSE is convicted of laundering romance scam funds linked to €38,000 fraud of elderly woman A Learning Support Educa- tor from Ħaż-Żebbuġ has been convicted of money laundering and receiving proceeds of crime after transferring thousands of euros linked to an international romance scam targeting an el- derly Maltese woman. Magistrate Rachel Montebello, presiding over the case, found 44-year-old Annabelle Azzopar- di guilty on all charges, ruling that even if she did not directly take part in the fraud, she had suspected the illicit origin of the funds and chose to proceed re- gardless. The case stemmed from a ro- mance scam in which 70-year- old Maria Fatima Zahra was tricked into sending €38,650 to various bank accounts by a man posing as an American doctor stationed in Yemen. The victim believed she was helping him travel to Malta for both roman- tic and humanitarian reasons. Azzopardi's account received five payments totalling €4,950, which she then transferred abroad under the instruction of her boyfriend, a Nigerian national by the name of Sun- ny Ogiewomgi, who lived in Greece. According to her testimony, Azzopardi met Sunny during a 2022 holiday in Greece. Their relationship developed, and when she returned to Malta, he repeatedly asked for her bank details, claiming he needed to send money to a relative but lacked the paperwork to do so himself. Although initially hesitant, she said she eventually agreed after revisiting Greece that Decem- ber. Upon her return, she be- gan receiving the funds and, at Sunny's direction, sent them to a woman named Ella Shevela, allegedly a Ukrainian colleague of his based in Katerini, Greece. Sunny reportedly told her that Ella allowed him to use her ac- count and needed to be com- pensated for it. Investigators later discovered that the transfers were part of a wider scam network. Azzopardi admitted she had grown uneasy, telling police "I'm not liking this." She also said she had de- leted WhatsApp messages with Sunny "for personal reasons," and that his number was saved under the name Ella Shevela. The court held that while Azzopardi may have been ma- nipulated, she could not have reasonably overlooked the sus- picious nature of the transac- tions, particularly given her education and the pattern of foreign transfers. In its ruling, the court reaf- firmed that under Maltese law, a person can be guilty of mon- ey laundering not only if they know but also if they merely suspect that the money has a criminal origin, a subjective test requiring no proof of reasonable grounds. Azzopardi was handed a 14-month prison term, sus- pended for three years, and or- dered to reimburse Zahra the €4,950 in question. The funds, already under a freezing order, were confiscated by the State, and Azzopardi was also ordered to pay €2,895.72 in court and ex- pert fees. Magistrate Montebello noted that while the court took ac- count of her cooperation and clean record, her lack of re- morse, heightened by the fact that the accused tried to excuse her behaviour instead of return- ing the money, and failure to verify obvious red flags warrant- ed a deterrent sentence. ĦALEY XUEREB hxuereb@mediatoday.com.mt PN insists Borg will publish leadership campaign expenses by end of month THE Nationalist Party said Alex Borg's leadership campaign ex- penses will be published by the end of the month. It also accused Prime Minis- ter Robert Abela of hypocrisy following criticsm by the La- bour Party (PL) over Borg not publishing his expenses. "He [Robert Abela] is de- manding transparency while failing to publish the expenses from his own Labour leader- ship campaign six years after his election," they said on Tues- day. The PN said the contrast between Alex Borg and Robert Abela "continues to emerge," adding that Abela is trying to attack Borg over an issue that he himself has not addressed. The PN leader had first con- firmed he would publish the expenses in an interview with MaltaToday back in July. This reaction comes after the PL said on Tuesday that Alex Borg had failed to publish the finances tied to his PN leader- ship campaign, despite promis- ing to do so within a month. The PL insisted the figures should be released "today rath- er than tomorrow", accusing Borg of breaking his word to the public with every passing minute. "The Nationalist Party can- not fail to note the hypocrisy of the Labour Party and Robert Abela, who is once again at- tempting to attack Alex Borg, this time over the publication of his leadership campaign ex- penses, when six years after his own election as Labour Leader, Robert Abela has still not pub- lished the expenses of his own campaign," they said. It added that "the Labour Party has no lessons to give on transparency and accountabili- ty" and that "what Robert Ab- ela demands of others, he has never applied to himself." Meanwhile, the Labour Par- ty said the PN leader's delay in publishing his campaign fi- nances was "nothing but con- firmation that even on some- thing so simple, the Nationalist leader has failed another test." It said this shows that "Alex Borg and the political party he leads cannot be relied upon." JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt Supporters gather around Alex Borg at party headquarters after being elected PN leader (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)