Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/673696
JURGEN BALZAN THE government is stoutly refus- ing to reimburse a man who was defrauded by his notary, because it would set a precedent. Despite providing evidence to the Inland Revenue Department and filing a police report that the mon- ey he gave to his notary to pay the succession tax, was instead used to pay somebody else's tax dues, Al- bert Mamo has not been given the money back and the tax department insists that he should make the pay- ment anew. "Once again a senior government official admitted that I should be given back the money which is right- fully mine, however the government is wary of this as it would set a prec- edent and it would cost the govern- ment a fortune to pay all the people who have been defrauded," Mamo told MaltaToday. A meeting was held this week be- tween Mamo's representatives and the finance ministry's permanent secretary, Alfred Camilleri, but so far no agreement has been reached. Yet, Mamo insists he will not throw in the towel and said "I will not give up the fight especially since a notary, who is a public official, defrauded me and my money was cashed in by the tax department." "If a shopkeeper does not pass on the VAT he collected from his cus- tomers, the clients are not expected to repay the tax and the VAT de- partment does not prosecute them but the shopkeeper. However, in this case the government is expect- ing me to repay the money," Mamo added. He has raised the issue with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, finance minister Edward Scicluna and jus- tice minister Owen Bonnici. How- ever, while everybody acknowledges that Mamo has been defrauded, a reimbursement is not on the cards. In a text message, Scicluna told Mamo, "Albert it seems you have been robbed on the way to pay the IRD. We are prosecuting the robber for fraud. You have to get the money from the fraudster by a civil case. In the meantime you owe the IRD money. These are the facts. If there was a legal way to get you the money back, we would. There isn't." Notary to be disbarred The Maltese Notarial Council has told MaltaToday that it has initi- ated the process to disbar the notary who is being accused of defrauding Mamo. The notary, Philip Said, was given six months to regularise his position and register all deeds and contracts in his possession. During the six-month period, Said could not register new deeds and after failing to regularise his posi- tion the council has initiated court proceedings to have the notary dis- barred. Mamo's case was not the first in- volving Said and the police have received other complaints against Said and he is facing separate court proceedings. Council trusted with reform proposal The notarial council has been en- trusted with proposing a reform in the sector. The council is drawing up plans on how tax payments can be made more secure while the monitoring process is being tightened. The review process, which for years was not enforced, now de- mands a yearly audit of all deeds and contracts registered by notaries. This review is then passed on to the Court of Revision of Notarial Acts, which has the authority to visit and inspect archives, the Public Registry and the offices of notaries as well as to apply disciplinary sanctions. The finance ministry is also look- ing into the possibility of allowing customers to make duty and tax payments directly themselves but the council has now been entrusted to draw up proposals to streamline payments. Although the council is not keen on having people making direct pay- ments, the proposals under consid- eration include electronic payments. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MAY 2016 News Government wary of setting precedent, refuses to reimburse defrauded man 'Blow to Malta's dignity' – Busuttil on PM's reshuffle THE Prime Minister's decision to retain his closest allies in of- fice is "a blow to Malta's dignity", according to Leader of the Op- position Simon Busuttil. Addressing a conference or- ganised by the PN's workers branch, Busuttil lashed out at Muscat for choosing to retain Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schem- bri as a minister and chief of staff respectively, in spite of their ownership of offshore Panama companies. Busuttil insisted that Muscat's decision would be a hammer- blow to the public's dignity. "Strip a person of his dignity and you leave him with nothing," he said. "Instead of firing Schem- bri and Mizzi, Muscat declared his trust in them. Muscat, Mizzi and Schembri have set the worst possible example to Maltese and Gozitan workers." Delivering his address to mark Workers' Day, Busuttil said that the economy should serve the people and warned that the take-home pay of around 78,000 workers has fallen in the past three years. "The difference be- tween the PN and the PL is clear; while the PL wants a strong economy, the PN wants an econ- omy that serves the people." Simon Busuttil