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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2014 News 6 Woman acquitted of assaulting estranged husband Libyan inmate jailed for five years after torching prison cell DANIEL MIZZI AN accountant charged with mis- appropriating millions in clients' investments lost over €6.2 million in a bid to recover a €250,000 loss and claimed that the Malta Finan- cial Services Authority had not car- ried out an inspection for six years, a court heard yesterday. The revelation was made during the compilation of evidence against 42-year-old accountant and the di- rector of Maltese Cross Financial Services Ltd, Jean Claude Bugeja, who is pleading not guilty to misap- propriating and laundering €4 mil- lion in clients' funds between Janu- ary 2008 and August 2014. Taking the witness stand, pros- ecuting inspector Ian Abdilla said things started to go wrong in July 2008, when the accused lost some €250,000 in a €1 million invest- ment. The court heard that in an effort to recoup his losses, the accused al- legedly misappropriated investors' funds, eventually losing €6.2 million in failed investments over a six-year span. During questioning, Bugeja is said to have described the system as "very easy" to exploit, claiming that the MFSA's last inspection of the com- pany's books was in 2008. During the MFSA inspection, Bugeja told police, he gave auditors a summary of what the clients had and not what they were meant to receive. Moreover, Bugeja told police, in an effort to examine the accounts, the MFSA auditors only checked with the banks' documents and not the clients themselves. Inspector Abdilla explained that the police's investigations started after the other directors of Mal- tese Cross Financial Services Ltd – namely Robert Cutajar and Stephen Spiteri – filed a criminal complaint in which they claimed that Jean Claude Bugeja had admitted to a €6 million shortfall in clients' assets. The court heard that subsequently, Bugeja – who owns 85% of the firm's shares – was ordered to resign from his post by the MFSA. The finan- cial watchdog also suspended the company's operations and banned Bugeja from providing any financial services and prohibited him from accessing the company's records, IT system, or offices. Maltese Cross Financial Services Ltd was formerly known as Island Financial Services Ltd, but after its previous directors put it up for sale, the accused bought it to avoid re- vealing what was going on. "This had been going on since 2008 ever since he [Bugeja] liquidat- ed some of his clients' assets with- out their knowledge, and lost some €250,000. From then on, he used the clients' funds to try to recoup these losses, but the losses continued to accumulate, eventually totalling around €6.2 million," the inspector told the court. The inspector explained that things started to go wrong in March 2008, when Bugeja sought to invest €1 million in a BNP Paribas Fund. "The company only managed to raise €700,000, and therefore, Buge- ja liquidated €300,000 in clients' as- sets without informing anyone. The investment went well and he made a profit of around €8,730," he said. However, the inspector said that Bugeja's decision to invest in an- other BNP Paribas Fund proved to be his undoing, as this time he lost about a quarter of a million euros. "He used the clients' funds to meet the minimum investment require- ment of €1 million. The value of the fund went down, and in July 2008, he lost some €250,000," he said. The inspector said that in a bid to recover the losses, Bugeja continued to make more investments, opting for more risky investments which could yield a higher profit. "Eventually, during 2012 and 2014, the investments continued. The investments became more risky in an attempt to recoup the losses. By 2014, the total losses stood at €6.2 million, and only €500,000 re- mained of clients' funds," he said. The inspector also said that Buge- ja had admitted to fabricating two bank documents and whenever his clients requested their money, he used to pay them by misappropriat- ing the funds of other investors. "He [the accused] told me that no one knew of the shortfall – not even the directors, or his family. He liquidated anyone's funds in a bid to make good his losses, including those belonging to his father and wife." "He was very serene. He told me that now that the case ended up in court, he is feeling relieved because he does not have any more energy," the inspector said, adding that the accused had cooperated with the police. Lawyer Joe Giglio was defence counsel, while Inspector Ian Abdil- la prosecuted. Lawyers Stefano Fil- letti, Giannella de Marco, Kathleen Grima, Gianluca Caruana Curran, and Adrian Delia are parte civile. The case continues on 14 October. DANIEL MIZZI A 36-year-old woman from Sliema has been acquitted of assaulting her estranged husband after a criminal court ruled there was insufficient evidence and several discrepancies between the victim's testimony and the initial police report. Magistrate Neville Camilleri, heard that on 30 June, 2012, the husband went to pick up his chil- dren from the accused's home in Triq Leone, Sliema. In his testimony, the husband told the court that upon arriving in Sliema, he told his estranged wife to take their daughter to hospital, claiming that his previous requests were ignored. He also stated that at some point during the incident, the accused took exception to his request and assaulted him. "She pulled my hair, broke my sunglasses and threw them near my son, and tried to take my car keys," he said, adding that he then filed a police report. In its decree, the court noted that in his police report, the vic- tim did not state that she broke his sunglasses or that she pulled his hair. Conversely, the police report merely stated that the accused only grabbed her husband's sunglasses and threw them on the car seat. Consequently, the court acquit- ted the woman of assaulting her husband and of damaging his sun- glasses. Inspectors Jesmond Micallef and Jason Francis Sultana prosecuted. A Libyan prisoner has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of setting fire to his cell and to trying to torch a second cell at Corradino Correctional Facility two years ago. Faiz Omar Elsallak, 45, was charged with attacking and violent- ly resisting prison wardens Kevin Cauchi, Carmel Cachia, Raymond Cutajar, Victor Galea, and Stephen Camilleri, with threatening them, slightly injuring Cauchi, damaging the prison and relapsing. Magistrate Neville Camilleri also found him guilty of setting fire to cell number 13 in Division 6 on 4 March, 2012, and trying to set fire to cell number 11 in Division 13 three days later. The court heard that on 4 March, 2012, prison officials found a suspi- cious liquid in the accused's prison cell. Elsallak was subsequently moved to another cell in a maxi- mum security division. While in the prison cell, the ac- cused said he sought to attract war- dens' attention to let him out, but these ignored him. Consequently, he said, he took a blade and self- harmed and after this was also ig- nored, he set fire to a mattress. Elsallak was subsequently placed under psychological care at Mount Carmel Hospital because he had self-harmed. Three days later, the accused was discharged from Mount Carmel and sent back to CCF and placed in cell number 11 in Division 13. The court heard that on 7 March, 2012, the accused was involved in a fight with two fellow inmates, and was escorted back to his cell. After being locked in his prison cell, the accused repeatedly called on the officers to open his cell, but after he was ignored, the accused tried to set fire to the prison cell. Upon noticing the smoke, prison wardens went to extinguish the fire and as soon as they opened the door, the accused assaulted them. In his defence, the accused claimed that he only burned a piece of paper to attract the wardens' attention, and that he did not try to burn the whole cell. In its decree, the court noted that in his testimony, the accused had admitted to setting fire to the mat- tress and to trying to torch a second cell. Moreover, the court held that the accused has a "colourful" crimi- nal record, and that he committed the crime while in prison. Elsallak was consequently jailed for five years and ordered to pay €540 in court fees. Inspectors Spiridione Zammit and Jurgen Vella prosecuted. MFSA had not inspected failed company's books for six years Jean Claude Bugeja