A judge has rejected an appeal filed by the attorney general over a criminal case related to a 2005 haul of 15 million contraband cigarettes found hidden in a container at Malta Freeport.
Mr Justice Neville Camilleri rubbished arguments by the attorney general that father and son Arthur and Aaron Ciancio, both from Mellieħa, should have been given a harsher sentence and should have been both found guilty of the charges brought against them.
Both were accused of involvement in the racket, which resulted in the massive haul of smuggled cigarettes. The merchandise was worth some €593,000 and was liable to €1.5 million in excise duty and a further €377,000 in VAT.
In 2017, after a 12-year-long court process, the court found that the prosecution had not proved Arthur Ciancio’s alleged involvement and conspiracy in the illegal importation of the tobacco products. It, however, convicted him of forgery, falsification of documents and making use of false documents, sentencing him to a jail term of two years, suspended for four years.
As for Aaron Ciancio, the court observed that the prosecution had failed to prove its charges, adding that the fact that he was the son of the other accused and lived in the same house did not mean he was guilty.
“It brought not one piece of evidence in regard to Aaron Ciancio that he was in any way involved in the crime,” the court had concluded.
An anonymous tip-off had alerted the police to the imminent arrival of the merchandise, which was eventually seized by customs officers on Easter Saturday in March 2005.
It brought not one piece of evidence in regard to Aaron Ciancio that he was in any way involved in the crime
The relative bills of lading of two containers described them as carrying promotional toys and giftware respectively for two Maltese companies which, upon subsequent investigations, turned out to be non-existent.
The first container yielded 421 master cases, each containing 10,000 Regal brand cigarettes. The second turned out to contain 726 cases of contraband merchandise.
The attorney general argued that Aaron Ciancio should have been convicted of fraud and falsification of documents and that his father should have also been found guilty of his involvement in the importation of the shipment. The fact that there was a last-minute change of destination of the container in question did not change the intent to commit this crime.
But Mr Justice Camilleri threw these arguments out of the window. When containers arrive in Malta for transshipment purposes, it means the merchandise is not destined for Malta and that no taxes are due in Malta.
The court said evidence showed Aaron Ciancio was uninterested in his father’s business even though he occasionally helped him out. Mr Justice Camilleri, therefore, rejected the attorney general’s appeal and confirmed the judgment of the first court in its entirety, also throwing out Arthur Ciancio’s appeal that most of the evidence was hearsay and should not have been considered admissible evidence in court.
Lawyer Kathleen Calleja Grima was counsel to Arthur Ciancio and lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were counsel to Aaron Ciancio.