Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/476647
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2015 7 News to dominate Mriehel skyline Planning Ombudsman David Pace had criticized the govern- ment for including Mriehel at such a late stage. "The inclusion of Mriehel in the approved zones where the policy is applicable, should have been put to public consultation prior to the final approval by the MEPA board," the planning ombudsman told MaltaToday in June. According to MEPA official Joe Scalpello, Mriehel was added be- cause there was already a govern- ment strategy to improve and up- grade the area and its context. Interviewed in The Times in June, Scalpello specified that any development in Mriehel must safeguard views of Mdina and Valletta, "as there is a sight-line between the two (historical cit- ies), right across Mriehel." MaltaToday is informed that MEPA will be expecting pho- tomontages of the development from different sensitive view- points in the environment impact assessment. Bank safety deposit box error case dismissed MATTHEW AGIUS IN what can only be described as a very odd case, a magistrate has cleared a married couple who were charged with defrauding a bank out of €40,000 after he heard how the bank had assigned to another client a safety deposit box which they had been using for over ten years. Maria and Victor Xuereb were charged with fraud after a mistake by a BOV employee resulted in their safety deposit box also being assigned to Anthony and Mary Rose Man- gion, resulting in the bank refunding €40,000 in deposits to the Xuereb family. The Mangions had testified that one day, while checking the safety deposit box which they had rented at the San Gwann branch of Bank of Valletta, they found a stack of US dollars of unknown origin inside, together with their money. Investigations carried out by the bank established that the money be- longed to the Xuereb couple, who had already been refunded by the bank after they had reported the money to have been stolen from their safety de- posit box. The police, believing that the money belonged to the Mangions, charged the Xuerebs with attempting to capi- talise on the bank's mistake. The court however expressed disbe- lief at the fact that the police had failed to investigate the Mangion couple, only charging the Xuerebs, describ- ing it as "an obscene and unforgivable error". It noted that the employee re- sponsible had been disciplined. Also very worrying, said the court, was the fact that in spite of the Xuereb couple being given the benefit of the doubt and refunded by the bank, the prosecution chose not to believe their version of events, prosecuting them instead. Neither the original complaint nor the origins of the investigation were ever explained to the court, the mag- istrate said, adding that the fact that the investigation began almost a year after the incident was also inexplica- ble. The court said that there was a re- mote possibility that it could have been a complicated ruse set up by the Mangion family, but it also noted that the Xuereb couple had been renting the box for over 10 years without in- cident. The magistrate noted that there were multiple possible scenarios which could not be proved to the level required by law. "One cannot clearly say whether it was the accused who set up the mise en scene, the Mangions or a bank em- ployee. Maybe the bank made further mistakes and God only knows what was done with the money." Evidence In his evidence, retired professional photographer Anthony Mangion had explained that he had gone to Bank of Valletta in San Gwann on April 1, 2010 to obtain a safety deposit box, and was accompanied to the vault by the branch's cash custodian Gaetan Falzon who opened the box in front of him. "When he opened the box, we found a small empty container inside, which Falzon said it must have been left be- hind by somebody else. He also said that he would keep it himself to put his pencils in it," Mangion said, add- ing that Falzon then moved away and stayed by the doorway, given that it is bank policy to leave the client alone with the safety deposit box. He said that he deposited €40,000 inside the box. The money was wrapped in strips of paper which he used as the receipts to clients for pho- tography films handed in for develop- ing prints. Mangion explained that when he returned two weeks later – this time accompanied by his wife – he opened the security box, and found that be- sides his money there was also a stash of US dollars. He immediately called the manager who came to see, and verified that all his money was there. "The bank asked me if I wanted an- other safety deposit box, and I told them there and then, that I didn't trust them. For all I know I could have lost all my life savings," Mangion said, adding that he refused the bank's of- fer to be given another box instead, stressing again that he "wasn't trust them." Demotion Gaetano Falzon, the former branch custodian at BOV's San Gwann branch, had filed a judicial protest against the bank in February 2013, claiming unfair demotion and accus- ing the bank of paying off third par- ties to "buy their silence" on the loss of money from their safety deposit boxes. Falzon said he was unfairly de- moted by the bank after disciplinary steps were taken against him, in con- nection with his duties administering the branch's safety deposit boxes. Falzon had denied the accusations brought against him by the bank, claiming the incident was solely due to an unsafe system because of a "lack of effective control" on the copies of the keys of the safety deposit boxes and a software defect. Additionally, Falzon accused the bank of paying a considerable sum of money to "buy the silence of dishonest persons who were indicating they will expose the bank's shortcomings". Falzon claimed that when the Fal- zons flagged the mix-up, realizing that their safety box contained items that did not belong to them, the bank – according to Falzon – compensated them in a bid so that the matter is not given publicity. Remanded after sex assault charge A 48-year-old Vittoriosa man was remanded in custody after he was charged with sexually assaulting a vul- nerable 19-year-old woman on Friday. Lawrence Mangion pleaded not guilty to violent indecent assault, holding a woman against her will and harassing her in Senglea last Friday at around 5pm. Mangion's lawyer, Joseph Ellis, told the court that the relationship was consensual and that his client was pleading not guilty. He requested bail on the ground that Mangion should be presumed innocent and that the court could simply bind him not to approach the alleged victim. However, prosecuting Inspector Jos- ric Mifsud expressed concern that if bailed, Mangion could approach the victim, who is a vulnerable person, or that the girl might go to Mangion's house. He told the court that a psycho- logical assessment had been requested to determine the extent of her vul- nerability. Magistrate Aaron Bonnici denied the accused bail in the light of this revelation, also ordering that the woman be summoned to testify at the next sitting. The magistrate ordered a ban on the publication of the name of the victim.