Woman with chronic disease acquitted of social security fraud

A 61-year-old woman was acquitted of defrauding the Social Security Department after it emerged that the woman really suffered systemic lupus erythematosus, even though her application for severe disability allowance contained a forged certificate.

Monica Borg faced a raft of charges, including making use of a forged document, making a false declaration to the social security, and fraudulent gain, among other charges.

Police inspectors Andy Rotin and Wayne Rodney Borg told court that the Financial Crimes Investigation Department had received a report from the Social Security Department flagging a number of applications.

The police started investigating the applications that contained similar medical certificates, checking with the doctors to determine whether they had actually seen the patient.

Borg released a statement to the police saying she had been suffering from Lupus for years.

A representative of the department testified that the Social Security Department received Borg’s application in April 2020. The application was signed by former Labour backbencher and family doctor Silvio Grixti, who is facing criminal charges over the social benefits racket.

The woman appeared before the board, and her application was approved.

By the time the investigation kicked off, she had received €20,985.15 in social benefits.

When the woman testified in court, she explained that she developed symptoms when she was 10 or 11 and had been under professional treatment for the past seven years.

In 2019, her husband retired to take care of her, and he applied for his pension.

But after not receiving anything, he spoke to someone who suggested that they should go to the Labour Party club (każin) in Fgura and speak with someone from the committee.

The pair, from Naxxar, went to Fgura and spoke to a man. They gave him the details about the husband's pension application.

The unnamed man then asked if they needed anything else, when Borg’s husband explained that the accused was unwell and gluten-free items were very expensive.

The man suggested that they go to Paola and look for “Neville”. 

The couple did not have an address for this person but managed to trace the man after asking around. Once they spoke to Neville, they gave him an envelope they had received from the man at the Fgura PL club.

Neville then sent the couple to Grixti, directing them to request an appointment with the doctor at the Żejtun pharmacy where he saw patients.

When they went to see Grixti, the two handed over an envelope they had received from Neville.

The woman told court she had provided the doctor with her identity card and after some blood tests, he said he could not help her. Before they left the consultation room, Grixti asked her husband whether she took any medicine. He then informed her she was eligible for social benefits and handed her an application, which she filled in and returned via email.

Grixti instructed her to speak to him before appearing before the board, which she did when he handed her another envelope.

The woman recalled that after appearing before the board, he application was approved and she started receiving some €450 in social benefits every four weeks.

A medico-legal expert appointed by the court confirmed that the woman had systemic lupus erythematosus, while another court-appointed expert concluded that the signature on the application did not belong to Borg.

A doctor who allegedly issued the certificate attached to Borg’s application told the court that while the letterhead on the document was his, he never issued that certificate nor had he attended to Borg.

The court observed that the prosecution had proven that a certificate attached to her application was forged, but failed to prove that the woman had forged the signature or the certificate or that she was somehow involved in drawing it up.

The woman had also told the court that she had no idea that the certificate was forged, adding that had she known it was, she would have never presented it to the board.

The court acquitted Borg of all the charges, noting that the woman really suffered from a condition for which she was eligible to social benefits.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana presided.

Police inspectors Andy Rotin and Wayne Rodney Borg prosecuted.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi appeared for Borg.