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MT 27 April 2016

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2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 APRIL 2016 News Careworker accused of misusing elderly resident's chequebook MATTHEW AGIUS A 55-year-old careworker has been ordered not to leave her residence pending court pro- ceedings after she was charged with stealing over €90,000 us- ing a chequebook belonging to an elderly resident at a care home. Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit heard Police Inspec- tor Yvonne Farrugia charge Rabat housewife Michelina Grech with misappropria- tion, fraud and theft from an 89-year-old elderly woman. Grech, a widow, is under- stood to have stolen or misap- propriated amounts in excess of €90,000. Inspector Farrugia told the court that the accused had been the victim's caregiver for many years, a service for which she would be paid €400 per month by the victim's brother. The accused had been entrust- ed with a signed chequebook, from which she would liber- ally write cheques addressed to herself, the Inspector ex- plained. It is understood that the po- lice investigation started when the victim found that she had insufficient funds left in her accounts to pay for the care home. Farrugia requested that the victim be considered as a vulnerable witness at law. Al- though the victim resides at a home for the elderly, there was little control on access to the home, explained the Inspector. On Monday the accused had contacted the home, added the inspector. The prosecution requested that bail be refused until the elderly woman and her brother testif y. Defence law yers Franco Debono and Martin Fenech, entered a plea of not guilty. Bail was requested, as was a ban on the publication of the name of the accused. The latter request was de- nied, the court saying it could not understand the need for the ban, observing that other- wise every case would end up not being reported. "I love Tessie like my own mother," the accused erupted, being hushed into silence by her counsel. But the court upheld the de- fence's request for bail, saying that access to the Sliema care home could be controlled. The court granted Grech bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €15,000, but ordered the wom- an not to leave her brother's residence for reasons other than an emergency. A freezing order and a pro- tection order were also im- posed on the woman. A careworker was charged with stealing over €90,000 using a chequebook belonging to an elderly resident Spurned lover broke down woman's door, court told MATTHEW AGIUS A mentally ill man has been placed on probation after a court heard that earlier this month he had kicked down a former lover's door and threatened her. The 43 year-old Qormi resi- dent was handed a three-year probation order after Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera was told that the man, who suffers from severe anxiety and Obses- sive Compulsive Disorder had become depressed after a seven- year relationship with the wom- an fizzled out. Police Inspector Roderick Ag- ius told the court that the man had smashed down the woman's door 2 April and threatened her with violence, three months after the victim had confessed to the accused that she no longer felt any attraction for him. The accused's attempts to re- kindle the relationship were re- jected and had led to him spiral- ling into depression. On the day before the incident, the two had spoken via telephone, which led the accused to hope, in vain, that the woman was reconsidering her position. The man was pushed over the edge on 2 April when, during an- other phone call to the victim, he had been told that she had "used him like toilet paper" and had been seeking a relationship with three other men. Psychiatrist Dr David Cassar, who had been treating the man for the last 20 years, had report- ed the incident to be an isolated one which "happened in the con- text of great loss and personal suffering". The psychiatrist tes- tified that the accused had felt "deceived, betrayed and used by a person who had become the most important person in his life." Dr Cassar explained that the accused was a long-time sufferer of severe anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a condi- tion which, among other things, led the accused to wear sunglass- es at all times due to feelings of unattractiveness. Having spent time at the Foren- sic Unit at Mount Carmel Hospi- tal the accused seemed to have regained control of his emotions and had understood that the re- lationship was over, the psychia- trist reported. While there was no need to confine the accused at a psychiatric facility at pre- sent, the doctor said, he did need to follow a medication regime and undergo regular psychiatric evaluations. Finding the man guilty, the magistrate placed him on proba- tion for three years, on condition that the accused attend court with his probation officer at six- month intervals in order to allow his behaviour to be monitored. The man was also ordered to re- main in regular contact with Dr Cassar. The man's love interest was placed under a protection order, prohibiting the man from ap- proaching her or face a €2,329.37 fine or a prison sentence, or both. Restaurant owner cleared of €45,000 electricity theft as charges filed three years too late MATTHEW AGIUS A restaurateur has been acquit- ted of stealing €45,600 worth of electricity after the case against him was declared time-barred. Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera was told that charges had been filed against 64 year-old Gaetano Falzon, who owns Chez Gaetano Restaurant in Bugibba, in September 2013 – a full eight years after a surprise inspection by Enemalta had found a tam- pered meter. The electricity theft was alleged to have taken place over five years starting in July 2000, and En- emalta employees had testified to finding a number of broken seals on the restaurant's electric- ity meter. Further investigations revealed that the restaurant was also being supplied by an unmetered elec- tricity cable – likely to have been fitted by an Enemalta employee, as its installation would have re- quired a temporary suspension of the power supply to the area. In calculating the loss in rev- enue, Enemalta compared the consumption during the five-year unmetered period, with that reg- istered in the subsequent months after the situation was rectified. However, Falzon's defence had argued that, as the charges car- ried a maximum three-year pris- on sentence, they would be time- barred by the lapse of five years. Falzon was charged after eight years had elapsed. Magistrate Scerri Herrera had no option but to acquit the ac- cused due to the time-barring of the charges as a result. In the ensuing judgment, the magis- trate held that although the pros- ecution had proven its case, guilt could not be found as more than five years had elapsed between the incident and the charges. Civil society protest to call for resignations of Mizzi and Schembri THE Civil Society Network is or- ganising a national protest for the immediate resignation of minis- ter Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri following the revela- tion of their offshore interests. The protest will be held in the square in front of parliament on Saturday, 7 May at 10am. While noting that no speeches will be made, the network invited individuals and organisations to attend the "peaceful and non- partisan" protest and said every- one can take along banners and flags. "We are simply demanding what is normal and obvious in a democratic society: politicians and politically exposed persons should not be associated with tax havens and dubious financial dealings, as this can result in con- flict of interest," the network said. A Facebook event page has been set up for this purpose. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has so far ignored calls for Mizzi's and Schembri's resignations after the Panama Papers leak con- firmed that both hold offshore companies in Panama. A MaltaToday survey published on Sunday showed that a majority want both men out. A non-partisan protest will be held in parliament square in Valletta on Saturday, 7 May at 10am

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