Lawyers for fuel trader Gordon Debono, who was targeted by money laundering charges and a consequent blanket assets freeze, are claiming that the annual allowance granted to the accused does not guarantee a “decent living”.

Debono and his wife Yvette were arraigned in November 2020 and charged with laundering millions of euros after a police crackdown. 

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges issued against them in their roles as directors of 11 companies, all of which were targeted by freezing orders.

Under the current anti-money laundering legislation, a person hit by such an order over all assets, movable and immovable including those held by third parties, is granted an annual allowance of €13,976.24.

That amount had been set in 1994, then in Maltese liri (Lm6,000) when the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was enacted.

That law had included a proviso to ensure that the accused and his family could lead “a decent life”, within the limits of the freezing order while criminal proceedings continued. 

This meant that according to the legislator, the amount deemed “sufficient” back in 1994, was still deemed sufficient 28 years down the line, Debono’s lawyers argue in a judicial protest filed against the Attorney General, the State Advocate and the Justice Minister.

Not only had the standard of living changed, but the law made no distinction between one accused and another, said the lawyers, adding that a person could have a family to support.

And a person might have to incur necessary expenses related to illness, daily needs as well as legal expenses linked to court proceedings.

Such expenses certainly were not capricious, pointed out the lawyers. 

The law regulating wage increases clearly showed that over a 26-year span, basic necessities alone had registered an increase of €4,707.04 per person.

Yet, the statutory allowance granted to a person targeted by a freezing order, remained unchanged, continued the lawyers.

This situation seriously prejudiced the accused’s fundamental rights to the enjoyment of private property as well as the right to a fair hearing, and needed to be addressed without delay, said the lawyers, calling for the necessary legislative amendments “to address such anomaly as soon as possible”.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Alfred Abela, Ishmael Psaila and Rene’ Darmanin signed the judicial protest that was filed in the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction.