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7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 APRIL 2026 NEWS MAYA GALEA mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt THE court heard that after a woman who admitted to receiv- ing disability benefits despite not suffering from epilepsy, un- known persons later came to her home to collect part of the money. The prosecution also request- ed the freezing order against the accused to be decreased from €5 million to €1.5 million. The compilation of evidence against former MP Silvio Grixti and four other accused continued on Tuesday, with the court hear- ing testimony from a Social Secu- rity representative and two former benefit recipients. Grixti is charged together with Roger Agius, Emmanuel Spagnol, Dustin Caruana and Luke Saliba over an alleged racket through which people were helped to ob- tain disability benefits they were not entitled to. Previous sittings heard that several persons ques- tioned by police had mentioned Grixti during the investigation. A representative from the So- cial Security Department pre- sented two files relating to dis- ability benefit applications, one filed by a woman and another by a man. Both applications were linked to epilepsy. The woman testified that her own criminal proceedings had al- ready been decided, allowing her to give evidence in the present case. She said she had first heard about the possibility of obtaining benefits while sitting with friends at a band club or bar near the church in Tarxien. She told the court that a man at a nearby table overheard them dis- cussing money problems and said he could help them receive bene- fits. She said she later gave her de- tails and phone number, and was eventually handed an envelope which she was instructed to take to Social Security. The witness said she signed documents and filled in person- al details, but claimed she did not know exactly what she was signing. While filling in the form, however, she noticed references to disability and epilepsy. Under oath, she confirmed that she did not suffer from epilepsy or any such disability She said the application was eventually accepte this was con- firmed by around four people who later turned up at her home, saying they were from the board. She began receiving around €400 a month, with the first payment exceeding €1,000. The woman testified that she was later contacted by unknown numbers and told she had to pay back part of the money because "we sorted you out". She said dif- ferent people would agree to meet with her in different places, usu- ally in a small white car, and she would hand over a sum of cash. This happened around seven times, she said. The witness did not identify any- one in the courtroom. Another witness also testified after confirming that proceedings against him had been concluded. He said he had been receiving So- cial Security benefits. He told the court that he suffered from mental health problems and fits, and had gone to see his family doctor, the accused Silvio Grixti. According to the witness, Grixti examined him and told him he was eligible for benefits before sending him to another doctor in a pharmacy in Dingli, where paperwork was pre- pared for him. The man said the board later informed him that his applica- tion had been accepted. He began receiving cheques and said he re- ceived around €20,000 in total. Lawyers Michael Schriha, Gi- anella Demarco, Franco Debono, Mario Mifusd, Marion Camilleri, Lucio Sciriha, Roberto Spiteri, Jo- se Herrera, Arthur Azzopardi and Matthew Xuereb represented the accused. Police Inspectors Wayne Borg, Andy Rotin and Shaun Friggieri are prosecuting, assisted by law- yers Abigail Caruana Vella and Charmaine Abdilla from the Of- fice of the Attorney General and Anita Giordimaina for the De- partment of Social Security. Magistrate Lara Lanfranco pre- sided over the sitting. The case was deferred to 20 May at 11:30am. Benefits racket: Woman received €20,000 for disability she never suffered A woman accused of a Kalka- ra confectionery theft with her partner also took money from two men for fake sexual encounters and immediately disappeared after being paid, a court heard. This came during the compi- lation of evidence against two individuals in connection with a Kalkara shop burglary and separate fraud allegations. The pair accused are Nurton Borg, 30, from Pietà, and Mar- iana Doris Attard, 35, from Bormla. They were arraigned on 18 April, facing charges includ- ing aggravated theft, fraud and drug possession. Attard faces separate fraud charges. Attard was granted bail against a €2,500 deposit and a €5,000 personal guarantee. Borg was remanded in custody. Inspector Kurt Farrugia tes- tified that police in Bormla received two separate reports from two individuals, alleging that they had been defrauded by Attard. The first complainant said he had met Attard on several oc- casions. He allegedly entered into an arrangement with her involving payment in exchange for sexual services. Attard asked him to go to her residence in Bormla, where they had agreed he would stay overnight in exchange for €50. However, shortly after he ar- rived and paid her, another man already in the residence kicked him out. The second complainant ex- plained how him and Attard had communicated via Face- book Messenger, where ar- rangements involving sexual services in exchange for money were made. Police was told that they agreed to meet and go out to eat in Qawra. When shear- rived, she was not appropri- ately dressed for the outing and requested him to drive her home so she could change. On the way to her home, she requested the €100 previously agreed upon. After he dropped her off, she disappeared. The man's repeated attempts to contact her after her disap- pearance were unsuccessful. Chat messages between At- tard and one of the alleged vic- tims were presented in court as part of the evidence. Theft incident Inspector Kurt Farrugia al- so explained that on 16 April 2026 at around 6:15am, police in Bormla were informed of a theft from a confectionery in Kalkara. Officers went on site and met the complainant. He re- ported that upon opening the shop with an employee, he discovered that the premises had been broken into. A rear door had been forced open and damaged. Various items were reported stolen, including a substan- tial quantity of cigarettes and approximately €3,000 in cash. The victim reported that the cigarettes taken were also val- ued at approximately €3,000. Nearby CCTV footage was analysed. Two individuals, a male and a female were seen approaching a street parallel to the store. The male was seen climbing onto the bonnet of a parked Mazda vehicle, climb- ing a wall and accessing the backyard of the store. The theft lasted approximately around 40 minutes. Footage showed the male throwing a bag to the female accomplice waiting out- side. Police later identified the sus- pects as Borg and Attard. Following investigations, po- lice received anonymous infor- mation that the suspects were staying at a hotel in St Julian's. Officers proceeded to the lo- cation and confirmed with the hotel front desk that a room had been booked under Borg's name. Both suspects were arrested. A search of the room resulted in the seizure of around €419 in cash, a number of cigarette packets, and a white substance suspected to be cocaine. Labo- ratory analysis confirmed that the substance amounted to two grams of crack cocaine. During police questioning, Borg chose not to answer any questions, while Attard an- swered a few, stating that the drugs found were hers for per- sonal use. The case was adjourned to 12 May at 11:30am. Attorney General lawyer Ce- line Fenech prosecuted togeth- er with Inspector Kurt Farru- gia. Lawyer Matthew Xuereb and Franco Debono appeared for the defence. Magistrate Don- atella Frendo Dimech presided. Woman accused of luring men for fake sexual encounters, taking money and disappearing after being paid JULIA DOWLING jdowling@mediatoday.com.mt