Man cleared of 1990s fraud after case forgotten for 24 years
A man who was put in the dock at the turn of the century heard nothing about his case until earlier this year
A Paola man has been cleared of trying to defraud an insurance company in the 1990s, after a court found that too much time had passed for the case to still go ahead.
The accused, who is now in his 60s, had been accused of deliberately wrecking his own car - a Rover 216 Cabrio - so he could claim a payout from Citadel Insurance. He also faced separate charges of lying to get money he was not entitled to, and of using a fake sale agreement.
The alleged offences date back to between December 1997 and April 1998, when the man was just 35 years old.
He first appeared in court over the case in February 2000. The case was then shelved indefinitely in October 2002, with no date set for it to continue.It was not picked up again until January this year, when the court reopened it on its own initiative.
The accused appeared before Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia in February, and his lawyers argued that the case could no longer proceed because it had been left dormant for so long.
Court records show the man was last formally notified about the case in October 2001, and he last appeared in court over the matter in June 2002. He then heard nothing more about the case for almost 24 years.
Under Maltese law, a criminal case can only be kept going if the accused is formally notified of what is happening in it from time to time. A legal amendment passed in 2002 sought to close this loophole by automatically extending cases once a person is charged with a crime.
But, the court found, that amendment did not apply in this case because the case dated back to before the amendment was passed into law.Older rules therefore applied.
Under those older rules, the court found that the case had expired years ago, given how long it had been left without any further notice to the accused.
The court referred to several earlier rulings that had reached the same conclusion in similar circumstances.Magistrate Farrugia ruled that the case could no longer proceed and cleared him of all the charges.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri appeared for the accused.