A businessman told a court this morning that he paid a VAT Department employee €2,300 in order to have an outstanding payment of €7,000 reduced.
Maurice Agius of Swieqi admitted his involvement in the VAT Department fraud case when arraignments in connection with the case started this morning. He said he paid €2,300 to VAT Department employee Nigel Abela but his bill was still not reduced. He was handed a jail term of 11 months suspended for three years and a general perpetual interdiction.
Another businessman, Anthony Migneco, of Attard, also filed a guilty plea. He said he had an outstanding bill of €198,000 with the VAT Department and was introduced to Mr Abela, in an effort to get the bill reduced. The bill, he said, was being reduced, but he did not know who was actually doing it. Mr Migneco was handed an 18-month jail term suspended for four years and a general perpetual interdiction.
Sebastian Bonnici, of Qormi, admitting approaching Mr Abela in order to have his VAT bill reduced. He too was handed an 18-month jail term suspended for four months and a general perpetual interdiction. He was also ordered to pay a fine of €700.
Businessman Gregory Brincat of Madliena also pleaded guilty and was jailed for 18 months suspended for four years, fined €700 and handed a general perpetual interdiction.
People under a general perpetual interdiction lose their voting rights and cannot work in the public service. They could also face problems when seeking to borrow money or drawing up contracts, sources said.
Manwel Farrugia, a businessman from Victoria, Gozo, pleaded not guilty but had his request for a hearing in Gozo turned down because of alleged meetings he had with another accused in Malta.
Earlier Emanuel Abela pleaded guilty of acting as an intermediary between a VAT official and a tax payer, receiving €500 in payment.
He was handed an 18-month jail term suspended for four years and a general perpetual interdiction. The same punishment was imposed after a guilty plea by Neville Mula.
VAT Department employee Carmel Deguara admitted receiving Lm200. He also admitted leaking information from the department and issuing a refund cheque, which, he said, the taxpayer was entitled to. He was handed a two year jail term suspended for four years and fined €450. He was also handed a general perpetual interdiction.
A total of 32 people are expected to be arraigned in connection with alleged fraud at the VAT Department running into millions of euro.
VAT Department employees, businessmen and middlemen are being charged for involvement in the case.
The cases are being heard before Magistrate Doreen Clarke.
The police are reported to have broadened their investigation - questioning a number of auditors and financial specialists.