Fr Luke Seguna evidence files deleted, expert tells court three years later
Marsaxlokk priest allegedly misappropriated €500k from 150 parishioners over 10 years
A number of files with evidence relating to the case of Fr Luke Seguna appear to have been deleted, a forensic examiner told court.
Matthew Abela Medici, a digital forensic analyst, took the stand before Magistrate Lara Lanfranco on Wednesday in relation to the case of the Marsaxlokk priest, who was arraigned in 2022 for allegedly misappropriating some €500,000 from 150 parishioners over 10 years.
Abela Medici told the court that in 2023, when he returned to work after a few days of leave, he noticed that a series of files connected to the case had been deleted without his knowledge.
Since he was in charge of their custody, this raised concerns for Abela Medici.
He informed his supervisor informally but did not make a formal note of the deleted files until 2024, after noticing that no action had been taken.
Although the files had been deleted, it was possible to restore them to the computer. However, Abela Medici was concerned that doing so carried a significant risk that they could be compromised.
This was not the first time Abela Medici had taken the stand. Since he had been aware of the deleted files for three years, the prosecution asked why he had not mentioned the matter previously.
He said the evidence had already been presented to the court and that he had also told his superior what had happened.
Defence lawyer Matthew Xuereb asked whether there had been any oversight of the handling of the evidence. Abela Medici replied: “This was A to Z in my hands.”
He repeated that he had made the decisions he did to ensure there would be no possible compromise of evidence if an attempt was made to retrieve the files.
However, when asked by the defence whether he knew the deletion of the files could be a crime, and whether he had requested that an inquiry be opened, he said no.
Further witnesses need to testify. The case was deferred until June 15.
The case is being heard before Magistrate Lara Lanfranco.
The defence lawyers are Matthew Xuereb and Alex Scerri Herrera. The prosecution is led by Inspector Lianne Bonello, together with lawyers Ramon Bonett and Andrew Zammit.