Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/439085
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2014 13 2014 in review crime and justice court ordered that bail be revoked until witnesses testify and lifted the ban on publication of the accused's name. The case continues. Then, in late October, the church was once again at the centre of a sexual abuse inquiry after allega- tions began to surface that Kerygma director Fr Charles Fenech OP was to be accused of sexually abusing a vulnerable woman, forcing Arch- bishop emeritus Paul Cremona to deny allegations that the Curia had attempted to buy the woman's si- lence. The case, which is being heard behind closed doors, will continue in the new year. Ghosts of years past laid to rest In May, Kenneth Ellul, 39, of Mar- sascala was jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of burgling and assaulting former Labour MP An- thony Zammit in his Zebbug house in August 11, 2008. Zammit had de- scribed how he was beaten for two hours by three hooded men as he lay on his bed, after which the men ran- sacked his house and fled. A jury also delivered a guilty verdict against Pasqualino Cefai last October after hearing how he had brutally stabbed another man at least 14 times in a Gozo court- room. He was sentenced to seven years behind bars. Cefai, who was cleared of the more serious charge of attempted murder, was recently back in hot water after he allegedly threatened to kill a magistrate and an inspector – once again in open court. The case continues. Also in October, George Xuereb was jailed for 13 years after a jury convicted him of attempted murder and complicity in an attempted bank heist in 1996. The verdict ended the 18-year long legal saga that followed the 1996 hold up of the St Andrew's branch of Mid Med Bank, which was foiled by police. Had it been successful, the heist would have netted the three robbers, Carmel Spiteri, Joseph Polid- ano and George Xuereb a sum in the region of Lm100,000 (€232,400). Spiteri and Polidano had a d m i t t e d to the charges and had been jailed for their part in the robbery. A bad year for fraudsters In September, Maltese Cross Fi- nancial Services director Jean Claude Bugeja was charged with misappro- priating and laundering €4 million in clients' investments. The arraign- ment took place barely a month after the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) had suspended the company's operations, declaring that there had been a shortfall in cli- ents's assets after the possible mis- use and manipulation of assets. The firm's fellow directors alleged that Bugeja had privately admitted to the undeclared €6 million short- fall in clients' assets. Bugeja had racked up the enormous losses over the span of six years in an attempt to recover a €250,000 loss. The court was told that the MFSA had not car- ried out an inspection for six years, a shocking revelation further com- pounded by the fact that Bugeja had described the system as very easy to exploit. A month later, Fantasy Tours di- rector Karl Azzopardi was charged with misappropriating €400,000 in clients' funds. Investigations re- vealed that in the week preceding the company's announcement of bankruptcy, it had accepted €30,580 in 31 bookings. The police attrib- uted the company's downfall to Azzopardi's resistance to accepting that his business was failing. One group of customers have demanded compensation from the govern- ment, threatening to take the issue up with the European Commission, arguing that the government failed to ensure that Fantasy Tours had set up an insolvency fund. A year of interesting extraditions In other spheres, 2014 also saw two fugitives subject to interna- tional arrest warrants, apprehended in Malta. In October, Sicilian Mafia boss Sebastiano Brunno – leader of the Nardo Cosca, a branch of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra – was arrested by police in an apartment in Bugib- ba, five years after being convicted of murder. A court upheld the prosecution's extradition request, however Brunno has since appealed the judgment and is currently being held in custody. Meanwhile, in October, Gozitan police made the front pages after they apprehended Roderick Mc- Donald, a 76-year-old man on the run for 22 years after being convict- ed of sexually assaulting a 13-year- old girl. McDonald, a known sex offender who has also been linked by the British tabloid press in con- nection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was previously caught in Thailand after which he absconded to Australia, New Zea- land and Portugal. The court or- dered he be extradited to the UK to serve his sentence. A year of unusual cases Last June, nearly two-and-half years since Mosta's infamous "cat killer" crucified no fewer than 11 cats and three dogs, 37-year-old Enemalta engineer Nicholas Grech from Mosta was cleared of all charg- es after a court ruled that he was "mentally incapable of being held criminally liable for his actions". Grech, an engineer at Enemalta, had been arraigned in March in the wake of a string of animal kill- ings, with cats and dogs having been found crucified outside vari- ous chapels and statues in Mosta between October 2011 and Febru- ary 3. Police had moved in on Grech, af- ter studying CCTV footage of a cru- cified cat being put up near Mosta church. Grech was subsequently charged with animal cruelty, viola- tion of burial grounds, trespassing on religious grounds and vilifying the Catholic religion. However a team of psychiatrists appointed by the court concluded that Grech was suffering from schizophrenia and had not been taking his medicines at the time the crimes were commit- ted. Grech was adjudged as mentally incapable of forming criminal in- tent and was ordered to be kept at Mount Carmel Hospital "for as long as necessary." Chinese employers The latter months of 2014 also saw two unusual arraignments in the form of the arrest of Han Bin, the Chinese director of Leisure Cloth- ing, a Bulebel textile factory, who was charged with human traffick- ing and exploitation of the Chinese and Vietnamese workers and the infamous arraignment of a certain ministerial driver following a road rage shooting incident, which has been dealt with ad nauseam in the media and features elsewhere in this edition. Both cases are yet to be de- cided. While on the subject of unusual cases, one cannot but mention last November's acquittal of a 49-year- old man from Kalkara who had been accused of the rape of a 17-year old girl inside a fertilizer tank two years before. During the hearing of the case it emerged that some sexual ac- tivities had taken place in the tank, which the court judged were con- sensual. Summing up, 2014 will be remem- bered as quite the busy year for the Maltese courts, which had to deal with drive-by shootings, human trafficking, sex-slaves, clerical sex abuse, failed suicide pacts, child abuse, misappropriation, fraud and murder. Clearly, at least in terms of court- room drama, 2014 will be a hard act to follow. The defence rests. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Lisa Marie Zahra died in a leap from Dingli Cliffs, in what is claimed to have been a suicide pact. Her drama teacher, Erin Tanti (above) survived the fall and has been charged with her murder and assisting her in the suicide Dominican friar Charles Fenech is facing charges of sexually abusing a vulnerable woman. His case continues in the New Year