Chief Justice has no pity on serial fraudster

The Chief Justice yesterday threw out a request by serial fraudster Sandro Schembri Adami to revoke a court decision ordering him to repay nearly €74,000 to his victims, saying he should actually have been jailed.

Dr Schembri Adami, a notary, could yet find himself behind bars because Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano fined him €200 for his unfounded appeal and if the fine remains unpaid it would be converted into 17 days imprisonment.

Dr Schembri had been convicted of defrauding several clients, admitting he collected the money from them as duty on property transfers but then failed to pass on the money to the government.

To date, he has been handed down five suspended jail terms. The last one was a two-year jail term suspended for four years on March 12. He was also sentenced to a general perpetual interdiction, which means he cannot work as a notary, and ordered to repay 16 clients a total of €73,292 within six months.

Dr Schembri Adami asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to revoke the order to pay the money back, arguing that he could not work as a notary and had no assets.

In his judgment, the Chief Justice said Dr Schembri Adami had repeatedly taken other people's money and abused of his clients' confidence, prejudicing their interests. He should have been put behind bars and not given a suspended sentence, irrespective of his cooperation and, especially, if he was not in a position to pay the money back, the Chief Justice said, adding that once the prosecution had not appealed the sentence, the Appeals Court could do nothing about it.