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maltatoday SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2018 4 News MATTHEW VELLA ONE of the suspects in the as- sassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the family of mur- dered businessman John Camilleri, have agreed to settle a contentious property dispute out of court. MaltaToday first reported on the two cases filed between George Degiorgio 'ic-Ciniz' and 'Giovann' Camilleri 'tas-Sapuna' back on 17 December 2017. Since then, lawyers on both sides underwent changes, with Camilleri's lawyer Keith Borg being replaced by Clint Tabone, and lawyer Joseph Bugeja taking up Degiorgio's brief from Nationalist MP Mario de Marco. Both sides have now given notice to drop the cases and reach an out- of-court settlement. Degiorgio – one of the three men accused of murdering Caruana Galizia – had been fending off a claim in court by his former friend John Camilleri for thousands of eu- ros owed on a property deal under threat of eviction since 2011. But on 31 October 2016, Camill- eri, 67, was blown up in his car as he was driving away from one of his Bugibba properties at 7am. In the case, Camilleri was su- ing Degiorgio, demanding that he pay him back over €52,000 for a St Paul's Bay apartment he 'sold' him back in 1996 – not by legitimate property transfer, but through a verbal agreement. The case throws up a veritable cast of players and a small window into the world of what Maltese cops tend to describe as people 'known to the police' – amongst them Degiorgio's brother Alfred 'il-Fulu', also a murder suspect in the Caruana Galizia assassination. Witnesses included Daren Debono 'it-Topo' – the latter charged with participating in the failed HSBC heist of 2010. In this case, even the third accused in the DCG assassination, Vincent Mus- cat 'il-Kohhu', is charged with in- volvement – his defence lawyer was Chris Cardona, the Labour minister who this week denied newspaper reports that he was seen speaking to Alfred Degiorgio at a Siggiewi bar after the murder. In his claim of 2011, Camilleri said he was owed over €52,000 with interest from a property deal and the sale of speedboat to Degiorgio, and wanted the court to force the sale. Degiorgio also counter-sued. Camilleri had said he had a ver- bal agreement with Degiorgio way back in 1996, to allow him to move immediately into one of his St Paul's Bay apartments for the price of Lm30,000 (€71,000), which had to be paid within one year so that a property deed could be signed. Degiorgio said he knew Camill- eri when he had his restaurant in Bugibba called 'Hannibal', which he would frequent. "Camilleri had mentioned he had a block of flats for sale. I told him I was looking for a place and was interested. He told me to check them out and gave me the keys to go see them. I went to see them that very moment," he re- counted in a 2013 affidavit. Degiorgio chose the penthouse at 'Marushka' flats on Triq l-Ghabex. But since at the time he had his own "judicial problems" in court, no property deed was signed. "At the time I had my own prob- lems of a judicial nature, so I was not comfortable having a promise- of-sale agreement and contract done, and Gianni knew this." Not having an asset in his name also reduced Degiorgio's risk of losing it in the case of an adverse outcome in a criminal court. Instead, they agreed that Degior- gio would pay him Lm25,000 of the full price, which he did in 1997, and then sign a formal contract once the pending Lm5,000 balance was settled. "He gave me the key to the house there and then… we did not fix a date for when the balance would be paid. It was irrelevant anyway because I had paid him al- most the full price." According to Degiorgio's former partner, who testified in court, Camilleri would often be at De- giorgio's place. "He came to the apartment many times for a coffee, we'd frequently have a drink there, he'd come to see the place…" She even said that Degiorgio had paid Camilleri the Lm25,000 in cash – a common denominator in other deals. For example in 1999, Degiorgio acquired from Camill- eri's company Jetglass Limited a Maxum speedboat for the price of Lm11,500. According to witness Daren Debono, he had been with Alfred Degiorgio when George called his brother up and "told him to bring up cash because he was negotiating the purchase of a boat". The pair went to meet George Degiorgio with the cash in hand, which was handed over to Camilleri at his res- taurant. But Camilleri claimed that the purchase of the speedboat and an- other personal loan of Lm6,200, were part of the ongoing credit he had extended to Degiorgio, leav- ing a pending balance of Lm22,700 (€52,800). Degiorgio denied this. He said he had paid for the boat separately. "I gave him Lm11,500, before Daren Debono and my brother Al- fred Degiorgio, at Hannibal restau- rant. Afterwards I went to get the boat registered in my name. It is also untrue he loaned me money," Degiorgio said, revealing the extent of his relationship with Camilleri. "He once got me to stalk his wife, who was separating from him, be- cause he wanted to know if she had another man. I spent a num- ber of evenings following her on his instructions. He gave me some Lm3,000 in cash altogether. This was a payment, not a loan," Degior- gio said under cross-examination. John Camilleri, known as Gio- vann, was involved in a number of companies that dealt in property. His company Dove Trading Ltd, had €800,000 worth of property for resale and cash reserves of €2.3 million. It also owned rental prop- erty worth €137,000. The company made a profit of €2.4 million in 2015, according to the accounts filed with the Malta Financial Ser- vices Authority. mvella@mediatoday.com.m On 31 October 2016, Camilleri, 67, was blown up in his car as he was driving away from one of his Bugibba properties at 7am Lawyers propose settlement in dispute between murder suspect and bomb victim Caruana Galizia murder suspect George Degiorgio and murdered businessman Giovann Camilleri had filed case against each other over owed monies The Asset Recovery Bureau is looking for highly motivated & result-oriented professionals to join our dynamic team as: - Manager (Finance & Administration) Jobsplus Permit No. 222/2018 - Manager (Research & Data Management) Jobsplus Permit No. 223/2018 - Manager (Legal Services) Jobsplus Permit No. 226/2018 Job Description, together with the eligibility & qualification requirements can be downloaded through www.assetrecovery.gov.mt Interested applicants should send a letter of application together with a detailed Europass CV & copies of academic qualifications to the ARB Director by e-mail on arbmalta@gov.mt by not later than Friday 27th April 2018. Late applications will not be considered. ASSET RECOVERY BUREAU M A L T A BRAND GUIDELINE Colours Typography Athelas a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Athelas - Regular Athelas - Bold Athelas - Bold Italic Font Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non <>;501:@ ?A:@5:/A8<-=A5;ő/5-01?1>A:@9;885@-:59501?@ laborum. Athelas - Regular CMYK C 0 M 90 Y 100 K 0 C 70 M 66 Y 55 K 48 PANTONE PMS 2347 U PMS 419 U ASSET RECOVERY BUREAU M A L T A ASSET RECOVERY BUREAU M A L T A C M Y CM MY CY CMY K ARB Advert Vacancies 22.04.18.pdf 1 18/04/2018 14:50 In open letter, Godfrey Farrugia writes of regret in helping elect Labour TIA RELJIC THE former Labour minister and Democratic Party MP Godfrey Farrugia has written of his regret in his support of the Labour Party, for which he successfully campaigned in 2013, and that he witnessed mis- takes being concealed. In a letter to the press, Farru- gia – who was elected in 2017 as a PD member – said that despite its achievements, the Labour adminis- tration had concealed mistakes and caused "irreversible damage" to the country. "Day by day, I saw mistakes swept under the carpet, and no owner- ship was taken of them," he said. "It is with profound sadness that I acknowledge the untold, irrevers- ible damage the Labour Party I had helped to elect, is inflicting upon my country." Attempts to change the course of these "mistakes" by Labour were "met by attempts to silence", the former health minister – who turned down a social policy post in an early Cabinet reshuffle – said. Farrugia insisted that the system itself needed to change, and that the current party system "punishes dissent", causing others to fear to speak out. But Farrugia said he we would not be not critical of those afraid to take a stand. "After so long in Op- position, it was easier for most to close a blind eye, as we abandoned humane politics," he said, adding that those who did speak up were marginalised and threatened. Farrugia's partner Marlene Far- rugia, a former Labour MP, also broke ranks with the party and left to form the Democratic Party. Farrugia wrote of feeling betrayed as the party abandoned its histori- cal ideals. "I remember what it felt like to doubt from the inside – watching a dream crumble, and people turning their backs on the solutions, either out of self-inter- est, or more often, out of fear." "I spoke out, in the end, and I made my stand. I know what it is like. Now I wish to change the sys- tem, which restricts people from speaking out because of the fear of social and professional conse- quences," he said, urging others to come together to "save the coun- try" from falling into "total disre- pute" and safeguarding the rule of law from collapse.