VAT fraud: Consequences of interdiction lighter than thought

G Grima

Sep 19th 2009, 18:48

Imma f 'dan il-pajjiz se nibqaw sejjrin hekk? kullhadd iggerger u ma jsir xejn? Anke il-partiti iz-zaghar ...mela kullhadd waqa fill -muta ! Investigazzjonijiet xejn ? rizenji xejn ? x'qed jigri ....inhossni li f'dal pajjiz had ma ghadu safe , hawn wisq tahwid ! Hawn min jaghmel li jrid u hawn min fuq xejn issalbuh ! il-qorti x'gara ? Nahsem ma tantx fadal nies li jistaw isserhu rashom mil-qorti kif timxi ...Hemm bzonn li xi Partit jiehu biss serjeta u jibda jahdem fuq dawn il-problemi...ic-cittadin Malti qed ihhosu f'bahar ta tahwid ! Mafia li diehla bil-pulit !

Alfredo Agius

Sep 19th 2009, 18:44

Anyone every pointed how rude and annoying it is to use !!!!!!!!!!!, ???????? and CAPTIALS?

Doesn't make your argument anymore valid with added exclamations really. Just makes me skip that comment.

S.BELLIZZI

Sep 19th 2009, 15:11

This was the cherry on the cake to lose all credibility in the Maltese judiciary system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Pajjiz tal-biza!!!!!!!!!!!Oqtol u israq...mur ara....ggibha zewg b'xi mod jew iehor!!!

Gustav Baldacchino

Sep 19th 2009, 11:15

this is simply ridiculous. These people are left with thousands of Euro in their pockets and only pay a fine of €700. This is a great way to encourage people do the same thing. It is very well worth a try. €700 is a misery compared to the amounts one can have deducted from his Vat return and being left in his pocket.

Alexander Abela

Sep 18th 2009, 15:39

Shame on you. This is not right.

John B.Vincenti

Sep 18th 2009, 13:42

This is a classical example the "Crime literally pays". Our laws and judiciary system are the laughing stock of the civilised world.
As they say "only in Malta"

Paul Vella

Sep 18th 2009, 12:53

Why is everything in Malta so complicated? Why do we always have to find the literal needle in the haystack to avoid justice being carried out as the law states? Why are we being made the laughing stock of Europe and the world for that matter? Why cannot someone explain just why everyone seems so intent on carrying on with this farce being played at the law courts, day in, day out? This must be the longest running stage show in our "West End".

L Buhagiar

Sep 18th 2009, 08:54

If what the Times is saying about the interdiction is true than this is a really joke of a sentence.

DVella

Sep 17th 2009, 19:31

I am sure this article is of great solace and comfort to all of us honest taxpayers and businessmen that carry their responsibilities and observe their legal obligations . . . it is sure to strengthen the public's collective faith in our judiciary and law courts, particularly in view of the sentences handed down ! ! !

Michael Neville Cassar

Sep 17th 2009, 18:57

I personally lost all faith in the judiciary system, too many suspending sentences and too many criminals getting off easily.

Carmel Said

Sep 17th 2009, 17:17

So if I understood well the interdiction has no or little effect on the business man but the Vat employee who admitted he recieved 500eur will lose his job. Two weights, two measures

Joe Tabone-Adami

Sep 17th 2009, 15:45

One should always reasonably assume that the Court - be it civil or criminal - is very well aware of the full scope of any sentence it hands out in its judgements. Is this true in the present instance? Secondly, what is meant by the presumed anomaly being 'addressed through a revision of the law'? Does this imply that what has certainly not applied to the sentences imposed till now will be made to apply retro-actively? The Justice Ministry should speak out much more clearly - if, that is, it does know what it is talking about!

Criss Camilleri

Sep 17th 2009, 14:45

So this 'anomaly' was not known before ?

E. Azzopardi

Sep 17th 2009, 13:43

So, this is the answer to those of us (who think that they are superior human beings and they know it all) who said that this is a tough penalty. It isn't after all.

So what have we been waiting for to change the law if there were an anomaly?

Wahda wara l-ohra, ma jistax jiehu ir-ruh da l-imbierek ta pajjiz!!!!!!
Min jaf ghada u il-gimgha id-diehla u ta' waraja x'se jinqala??

Never a bright moment. Yes there is one.

Thank God His Holiness the Pope is coming to Malta. At least we had ONE good piece of news.

Joseph Sammut

Sep 17th 2009, 13:35

M.Mouse laws,
they should all be in prison,plus pay back all the money they fiddled,what is 700 euros fine against the thousands they took

Paul Bugeja

Sep 17th 2009, 13:02

Questions: Apart from the EUR700 fine (or less), will these people be made to pay back anything else . . . e.g. the amount of VAT they defrauded? How much money did go into the pockets of each one of these criminals? Will that money be ruturned? Has an investigation been carried out? If not, yes, then it is indeed worth it to give it a try to defraud the people's money in this miserable country. I firmly believe that in this case, only a prison sentence (not suspended of course) would have been suitabe. But who am I to do justice?

Joseph Cauchi

Sep 17th 2009, 12:51

So, everybody is complaining for the lenient sentences that have been meted out to the accused in this VAT scam!

But, don’t we know that the judges pass the sentences to those accused according to the laws as stipulated in the statute books!

If we have to criticize the sentences, our criticism should not be directed to the judges or to our courts, but to those responsible who legislate and pass laws in parliament.

These are our elected sixty-five representatives and no body else!

So, please if one needs to complain re: the above, one should address one’s criticism to those HONOURABLE gentlemen/gentlewomen!

JC.

victor pulis

Sep 17th 2009, 12:17

This farce should spur the government on to recoup all the money stolen from the country's coffers with interest and give proof that the money has been recovered. At least, that way it will be sending out the message that crime does not pay. As it stands, everybody is getting the impression that the bigger the crime, the less likely you will get punished and the more lucrative the reward.

Michael Seychell

Sep 17th 2009, 11:47

This item confirms how correct was the government through the office of the attorney general, to appeal on the very light tsentences applied on this VAT scandal..

One only hopes that the appeals will not take years to be heard , and in the meantime the governmment through the office of the attorny general or the police institute leagal proceeding againsrt all those who benefited from commissionm or from reduction of VAT and or of VAT fines to return the they obtained fraudulently.

I hope also that a serious investigation is held on the VAT department in general, to ensure that the big fish who statred this scum is also apprehended.


Michael Seychell
Tal-Pieta

David Galea

Sep 17th 2009, 11:46

Din hoffra ohra fil-ligijiet ta' Malta. Ftit ta snin ghilu ukoll kien hemm kawzi ohra li ma saritx gurtizzja kif suppost minhabba il-preskrizjoni (dewnin biex individwi ttellew il-qorti)

Mark Cassar

Sep 17th 2009, 11:00

Its always the same in Malta.. Corruption is taken lightly and then they start trying to collect money and put wide open eyes on smaller companies to make good for such a fraud!

We're living in a corrupted place where corruption doesn't get punished..

Maria Galea

Sep 17th 2009, 10:24

Here we go again!!!!!!!!! Are we really being governed????? The buses and heavy lorries go unpunished for spewing dirty smoke on the road !!!!!! Rubbish is being dumped anywhere and no action is being taken !!!!!!! And NOW the perpetrators of the VAT fraud get away with a little pat on the hand - kind of 'Be a good boy and don't do it again because in 4 years' time you will be a big boy, so watch it eh'. What sort of governance is this? Is it a matter of letting the 'bazuzli' get away with it? Sentences should be harsh, maybe as harsh as for parking fines and for not paying your Water & Electricity bill on time! At the moment for some funny reason we seem to be a country that can literally get away with muder!!!!!!! Please call back the Government and the Opposition together and try to thrash out something beneficial for our little but very precious country. Gonzi and Muscar please speak up and tell us where you stand in all this mess, sooner rather than later.

J Farrugia

Sep 17th 2009, 10:14

This is truly ridiculous. Amend the law immediately. make them tougher for any one caught fiddling with the people's money. Make it jail for those who embezzle people's money.

E Borg

Sep 17th 2009, 10:09

This is not fair at all.
And I who defaulted or was late for VAT payments they issued me a 1000 euro fine is this fair.

M. Camilleri

Sep 17th 2009, 09:49

From what I heard and read up till now it looks like defrauding the VAT department is a risk worth taking!...or am I under the wrong impression?

Kenneth Mallia

Sep 17th 2009, 09:42

So much for all the fussy and overblown arguments that interdiction is a big thing.

claire farrugia

Sep 17th 2009, 09:41

In Germany, where I used to live, you get a fine of 500 euros, the second time you are caught travelling on a bus without a ticket.......and here they get such fines for frauding in the VAT, ONLY IN MALTA. I would not like to know what the fines would be in Germany for something like this, but you would DEFINITELY spend some time in jail........

joseph zammit

Sep 17th 2009, 09:35

a very pathetic situation which renders our country the laughing stock of Europe.

Spare the rod and spoil the child. For Euros 700 I would definitely have a go myself.

P Debono

Sep 17th 2009, 09:07

The legal profession in general is in dire need of a radical overhaul. Unlike other, more dynamic professions which are reaping the benefits of adopting international professional standards and performing the highest quality services (e.g. the accountancy and IT professions), lawyers are still stuck in the middle ages.

They would prefer to boast about their Doctorate than to address the serious issues jeopardising their survival, such as the severe glut of lawyers being produced who end up with an "LL.D." and no job. The legal profession would do well for itself if it got down from its pedestal and learnt from other, more serious professions.

Colin Camilleri

Sep 17th 2009, 09:04

Insulting a policeman in the EU mainland may land you easily in a €2,000 fine. In Malta you defraud the government and the maltese honest tax payer millions of Euros and you get a €700 fine at most.
I would like to hear again all those who said in the Blogg previously that the interdiction handed to these frauders is very very serious. I bet you these frauders will not lose 1 second of their sleep over this inderdiction! Let alone if it is applicable in their circumstances.
What a state! Proud to be maltese - my foot.

Joe Cordina

Sep 17th 2009, 09:03

I stand to be corrected, but as far as i know, the interdiction can be waived by the magistrate upon a simple application of the convicted person, thus rendering interdiction even more futile and of no consequence.

Nigel Lawrence

Sep 17th 2009, 09:00

So this article is suggesting they got away with it.

Come on A.G., launch your appeal a.s.a.p.