Woman issues fake lease agreements to 57 people registered on same Mġarr address
Lawyer says she was trying to pay off €700k in debt she inherited from father
A woman who worked as a letting agent was on Friday charged with fraud and money laundering when she allegedly issued false lease agreements to 57 people who were registered as living in the same address.
Deborah Calleja, 47, from Birkirara, was charged with money laundering, fraud, making use of forged documents, and making false declarations to the detriment of the Tax Commissioner, Housing Authority and Identita between 2022 and 2024.
She pleaded not guilty.
Magistrate Astrid May Grima was told that on July 11, 2024, police were investigating 57 people who were registered as residing at the same address in Mġarr.
Several of the people were questioned. They claimed that Calleja had issued false lease agreements.
An arrest warrant was issued and she was arrested on August 23 that year.
She was released on police bail that was extended several times while police continued with their investigations until she was arraigned over her alleged involvement.
Her lawyer, Jose Herrera, made a request for bail but the prosecution objected due to the fear of tampering with evidence. The prosecution said that police had identified about 14 of the 57 people involved who could be summoned to testify in the case.
Herrera noted his client has a clean criminal record and had adhered to the police bail conditions.
“She is a mother. She is very naïve and penniless. It will emerge that she is naïve and she was used.
"She is so naïve that, when her father passed away, she accepted his inheritance which she could have turned down. She inherited €700,000 in debt and has been trying to pay it off ever since,” he said adding that she had no money in her bank accounts.
While money had passed through her accounts, she no longer had it as she used it to pay debts.
The prosecution noted that, according to their investigations, there was some €116,600 passed on to her as a result of the fake leases.
The magistrate turned down the request for bail and issued a freezing order for her assets.
AG lawyers Andrea Zammit and Manuel Grech prosecuted with the assistance of police inspectors Matthew Grech and Hubert Gerada.
Dr Herrera is being assisted by Martina Herrera.