A certain Joseph Friggieri has been hitting the headlines frequently over the past year or so. The reason for his newly-found fame – or rather – notoriety, relates to his ability to make people hand over their life savings to him, without receiving anything in return.

Choosing to work outside the legally established system is clearly an indication that one wants to avoid the strictures of the law- Claire Bonello

Back in March, the son of one of his victims, stated in court that Friggieri posed as an official working in Austin Gatt’s ministry and that he bought the newspapers for the minister. Friggieri proceeded to ask the businessman to hand over money for the purpose of procuring several subcontracting projects, one of which was the finishing works for buildings at Smart City.

It seems the businessman did this without batting an eyelid and without carrying out the most elementary background search to see if Friggieri was who he claimed to be.

Eventually, as the businessman continued to bankroll Friggieri, without any of hint of a return, and when the fantastic projects promised by Friggieri failed to materialise, a tiny sliver of doubt entered his mind.

Did he go over to the ministry and ask for Friggieri, or at least phone him up at the place where he claimed to work? Did he file a police report?

Apparently not – his fears being allayed by phone calls from Friggieri pretending to be Gatt or Manuel Delia.

The lame handkerchief-over-the-mouthpiece trick and growling into the mouthpiece was successful and the businessman continued to hand over money unquestioningly to Friggieri, despite his wife’s misgivings.

By the time it finally dawned on him that Friggieri was no hotshot at the ministry but simply a cash leech who had sucked some € 750,000 off him, the businessman was financially ruined.

The businessman’s daughter gave him the money she had received as wedding gifts because he was practically destitute.

Earlier this week, Friggieri was in court again. This time Alexander Maggi claimed he lent Friggieri €6,000 to buy some merchandise. This was followed by loans of over €1,500 and €1,600 after Friggieri promised he would be paying back the money within five days.

Friggieri was no longer posing as an official of the transport ministry, but was claiming to be someone influential at the Education Ministry.

He drove flashy cars and said he was related to a long-established catering company.

Suitably impressed, Maggi meekly handed over the money, with no security, no guarantees and no references about Friggieri’s trustworthiness or otherwise.

Now Maggi says he is penniless, he can no longer pay his lawyer or his children’s school fees and doesn’t even have enough money to pay his mobile phone bill. The bank is threatening to repossess his house.

He says he has had to resort to usurers to borrow money to make ends meet.

Maggi concluded his testimony by saying he now sleeps on a mattress and his health has deteriorated considerably.

Reading the court reports of cases where people have been conned in the same way as the businessmen mentioned above, provokes mixed emotions in me.

There’s sympathy for the scam victims and their relatives. Being rendered penniless and losing a life’s earnings is an awful fate.

But there’s also a feeling of irritation at the victims’ naivete (at best) or greed (at worst).

If the accounts given above are all completely true, we are looking at two parties who were willing to fudge the borders of legal and illegal behaviour – the conman who persuaded his target to give him money to bribe a higher authority or to procure an unfair advantage over fellow citizens, and the scammed person who was willing to put up the money for this unfair ­advantage.

In the first case mentioned, the businessman was perfectly willing to put up substantial amounts of money to bypass public procurement and tendering rules in the hope of being able to get a sizeable return on that kind of questionable investment.

Every businessman worth his salt knows – or should know – that subcontracting jobs on public projects aren’t awarded by the minister’s paperboy.

There’s an established competitive and official tendering process for these kinds of projects with some level of transparency.

Choosing to work outside the legally established system is clearly an indication that one wants to avoid the strictures of the law. In which case, it should come as no surprise that the con artist who promised great, illegal rewards has pulled a fast one on you. After all, there is no honour among thieves.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt