Usury 'probably concocted' by man to avoid paying debt
A man accused of usury was acquitted yesterday after being found to have been the likely victim of a lie by a man who owed him money.
Francis Gabriele had lent John Cardona €13,980 after they signed a contract at a notary on condition that Mr Cardona would pay back the amount within three months.
Mr Cardona had told Mr Gabriele he needed the money to open a business. However, the payments were irregular and, at one point, Mr Cardona had an outstanding amount of €2,796.
At that point, Mr Cardona filed a police report about Mr Gabriele claiming that he had been threatened and that over six years he had actually paid him €34,950. He alleged he had initially borrowed only €230 but, after he failed to pay the money back, the amount he owed kept rising.
Mr Gabriele admitted to threatening Mr Cardona when he demanded his money back but insisted he had lent Mr Cardona the money mentioned in the contract and had not been paid back in full.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli questioned the credibility of Mr Cardona's testimony and said it seemed he made up the whole story in order to avoid paying the outstanding amount.
The court cleared Mr Gabriele of usury but fined him €500 for making threats over the outstanding amount on his own admission.
Police Inspector Ivan Cilia prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri appeared for Mr Gabriele.
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Robert Callus
Nov 7th 2009, 14:47
I won't go into the merits of this case since I don't know anything more than I read on the Times.
However, most of the times such contracts are decieving and prey on the most vulnerable. That a person is lent €230 but ended with a debt of €34,950 due to interest is not so far from realiy than it seems
Manuel Mangani
Nov 7th 2009, 10:37
One is not aware of all the details of the evidence at the Courts' disposal, but generally speaking, one has to be careful about giving too much credence to contracts of this sort. Very often, they do not reflect the true entity of the transaction: the amounts supposedly lent/borrowed is inflated and includes interest at exorbiatant rates. For example A would lend B €1000, but the contract would state the the sum involved would be, say, €3000.
Joseph Schembri
Nov 7th 2009, 09:58
What about criminal action against the man who lied and made up the whole story?