Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545856
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 JULY 2026 NEWS Duo granted bail after allegedly defrauding Caritas benefactor of over €10,000 in fake legal fees Constitutional Court awards €3,000 to man over excessive delay in identity fraud case THE Constitutional Court has found a man accused of obtain- ing Maltese citizenship and iden- tity documents through alleged- ly forged documents suffered a breach of his right to a hearing within a reasonable time. The court ordered the State to pay him €3,000 in compensation while rejecting all of his other constitutional complaints. On Monday, the Constitution- al Court partly upheld an appeal filed by Ahmad Aziz against a 2023 judgment that had dis- missed all of his claims. Aziz had begun constitutional proceedings in 2020, arguing that Identity Malta had breached his right to family life by failing to process applications relating to his wife and children, while also claiming that criminal proceed- ings brought against him in Mal- ta violated the principle against double jeopardy because he had allegedly already faced proceed- ings in Pakistan. He further argued that the criminal case against him had not been heard within a reasonable time. The case stems from a wider investigation launched between 2015 and 2016. Aziz was arrested upon arriv- ing in Malta in May 2018. Civil proceedings were subsequently instituted by the Director of the Public Registry seeking the can- cellation of his Maltese birth cer- tificate on the grounds that it had allegedly been obtained through false declarations and forged doc- umentation. He also faces criminal charges alleging that he fraudulently ob- tained Maltese citizenship and identity documents through fal- sified records. During the constitutional pro- ceedings, Aziz complained that because his own citizenship status remained under chal- lenge, the authorities had failed to register his marriage and his children's births in Malta, pre- venting them from obtaining Maltese citizenship and his wife from enjoying freedom of move- ment in Malta. However, while the appeal was pending, Aziz informed the court that he had lost contact with his wife and children and was no longer pursuing those remedies. The Constitutional Court agreed with the Civil Court that no violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Hu- man Rights had occurred. It was observed that Identity Malta had not refused the applications out- right but had merely suspend- ed their processing pending the outcome of the civil and criminal proceedings concerning Aziz's alleged citizenship fraud. The court held this suspension was justified in the public interest while the legality of his claimed Maltese citizenship remained un- resolved. The court also dismissed Aziz's argument that he had been prose- cuted twice for the same conduct. They noted Malta's criminal proceedings concern allegations he used forged documents in Malta to obtain a birth certificate and citizenship, whereas the ma- terial produced regarding Paki- stan referred to entirely different alleged conduct. The court further observed that the Criminal Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal had already rejected his preliminary plea of ne bis in idem, concluding that no evidence existed that he had previously been tried in Paki- stan for the same facts. However, the Constitutional Court reached a different con- clusion regarding the pace of the criminal proceedings. While accepting that part of the delay during the compilation of evidence resulted from requests for assistance sent to Canadian authorities, the court noted that more than two years had already elapsed after the bill of indict- ment was filed in March 2021. By the time the constitutional ap- peal was decided, eight years had passed since Aziz first appeared before the Maltese courts and his jury trial had still not begun. The judges held that the State had failed to justify such a pro- longed delay. The court said the persistent backlog of jury trials and the lack of sufficient judicial resourc- es were matters for which the government bore responsibility, stressing those criminal proceed- ings must be concluded within a reasonable time. The Constitutional Court there- fore declared that Aziz's right to a fair hearing within a reasona- ble time under Article 39 of the Constitution and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached. It ordered the State Advocate to pay Aziz €3,000 in non-pecuniary damages and directed that a copy of the judgment be transmit- ted immediately to the Criminal Court so that the jury trial could proceed without further delay. The remainder of the appeal was dismissed. Aziz was represented by de- fence lawyers Jose Herrera, Mar- tina Herrera and David Camilleri. The Constitutional Court was presided over by Mr Justice An- thony Ellul, together with Mr Justice Robert G. Mangion and Madam Justice Josette Demicoli. A man and woman have been granted bail on Tuesday after facing accusations of defrauding a benevolent benefactor out of more than €10,000. The accused, 36-year-old Lyon Bonnici and 32-year-old Saman- tha Chetcuti, pleaded not guilty to charges of misappropriation, fraud, and breaching previous bail conditions. The victim of the fraud, Louis Bellizzi, is a benefactor who works closely with Caritas to assist for- mer prison inmates in reintegrat- ing into society. According to the prosecution, Lyon Bonnici allegedly began repeatedly targeting Bellizzi for financial aid. Samantha Chetcu- ti allegedly assisted Bonnici by fabricating false bills and invoic- es made to look like official legal fees from a well-known Maltese lawyer, as well as making up rental expenses. Believing these demands to be legitimate legal and living expens- es, the victim transferred a total of over €10,000 over a three-month span. The scheme began to unravel when Bellizzi realised the sheer volume of "expenses" was no longer making sense. Prosecution told the courts that on 8 June Bel- lizzi filed a police report provid- ing a timeline of the transactions, which included an outstanding fabricated legal bill of €5,500. Fol- lowing the investigation, a warrant was issued, and the two accused were arrested. Both defendants are facing addi- tional charges for allegedly violat- ing previous, separate court-im- posed bail conditions. Bonnici was charged with breaching con- ditions imposed on him in January and March of 2021. Chetcuti was charged with violating bail condi- tions handed down to her recently on 13 March 2026. Samantha Chetcuti's defence argued for bail, pointing out that the accused is a stably employed chef with a clean criminal record and a fixed address. The lawyer said Chetcuti played a secondary role in the affair and had fully co- operated with the police, even vol- untarily handing over her mobile phone. The defence appearing for Lyon Bonnici, argued that denying bail would trap the accused in a vi- cious cycle. The lawyer explained that Bonnici had recently been released from prison and was ac- tively receiving help from Caritas to rebuild his life and find his foot- ing. Having known Bonnici previ- ously, his lawyer personally at- tested to his client's progress, stating he could wholeheartedly say that Bonnici was turning his life around. Sending him back to prison now, the defense argued, would completely undo this pro- gress and send him right back to square one. The defense further argued that there was no real risk of tampering with evidence should the accused be granted bail, since all mone- tary transactions were complete- ly traceable digital records that could not be erased. While the prosecution expressed concern over the abuse of the benefactor's goodwill and the de- fendants' criminal histories, they agreed with the defence that there was no real possibility for the ac- cused to tamper with evidence if let out on bail as all monetary transactions were completely traceable. The court's primary reservation regarding Bonnici was his lack of stability, noting that he had re- cently been moving between mul- tiple residences. In response, the defence strongly reassured the court that Bonnici would be residing at a stable, fixed address if granted bail. To provide further peace of mind to the court, Bonnici's mother also stepped for- ward to act as a third-party guar- antor. The court granted bail to both defendants under strict condi- tions, alongside a protection order in favor of the victim as well as the lawyer whose identity was used to fabricate the invoices. Their bail conditions included an order to sign the bail book dai- ly. The two accused must remain indoors between 8pm and 7am. Both the accused were required to pay a €3,000 deposit and a per- sonal guarantee of €7,000. In the case of Lyon Bonnici, he required a third party guarantee from his mother who must also provide a personal guarantee of €2000. The prosecution was led by In- spector James Turner. Nicholas Mifsud and Ishmael Psaila ap- peared for the accused. MIKELA CASOLANI mcasolani@mediatoday.com.mt