Clients of notary Ivan Barbara who died suddenly of COVID-19 while on a trip to India have filed an application in court demanding a magisterial inquiry into the notary’s actions and those of his wife.

The request was made by Matthew Sacco, Simon Mallia and Valerie Mallia, who had handed Barbara cheques amounting to a total €30,650 in relation to promise-of-sale agreements they had signed. They want a magisterial inquiry to be appointed to investigate whether their funds were misappropriated or fraudulently used.

Simon Mallia explained that he entered into a promise of sale agreement with third parties to purchase property in March and had left a deposit of € 4,900 with notary Barbara. The amount was paid by cheque which was cashed.

Similarly, Matthew Sacco entering into a promise of sale agreement in October last year. He also paid notary Barbara €5,000 as a deposit by cheque which was also cashed.

Valerie Mallia signed a promise of sale agreement with third parties before notary Barbara, whom she handed €20,750 as a deposit. This amount was also paid by cheque which had been cashed.

Through their lawyer, David Bonello, the clients said they had a total of €30,650 deposited at notary Barbara which should have been deposited in client accounts and eventually passed on to the seller when the final contracts of sale were signed.

They said that, so as not to lose their property after Barbara’s death, they had signed new promise-of-sale agreements and contracts, and had paid the deposit for a second time.

They explained that after considerable time passed since the death of notary Barbara, they asked his office for their deposit money to be returned. They were informed by his wife, Rosanne Barbara Zarb, that the death certificate had not yet been issued due to complications because notary Barbara had died in India.

After more time had passed and the death certificate issued, they were told that the refund process was ongoing. But they were later informed that Rosanne Barbara Zarb had renounced her late husband’s inheritance.

They noted that, while the government’s chief notary had been tasked with taking over the acts signed by the late notary, this would in no way help them recoup their money.

The applicants said they had written to Bank of Valletta, where Barbara had clients’ accounts, asking for information and a refund but the bank referred them to Barbara’s heirs, saying it could not provide them with such information.

They said the fact that the wife renounced the inheritance because it appeared, there were not enough funds to reimburse the clients, indicated some form of possible misappropriation of funds and fraud. Moreover, they said the widow had not denied claims in the media that the couple had used the funds while they were abroad in India to adopt a child. She had also failed to react to claims that the couple held offshore accounts, the clients said, as they requested that a magisterial inquiry be appointed to look into these claims.

The Notary Council has asked the attorney general to hand over any deeds and wills published by Barbara to the government’s chief notary to fast-track the process of checking for potential breach of contract.

On Tuesday, the government chief notary, Keith Francis German, was appointed as the notary delegate of all deeds relating to Barbara with effect from August 16.

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