A director of a financial services company, Jean Claude Bugeja, was yesterday charged in court with defrauding investors of €4 million, with the sum expected to rise to nearly €7 million.
Mr Bugeja, 42, from Għaxaq, pleaded not guilty to money laundering, fraud, misappropriation, defrauding two of his former colleagues and directors, Robert Cutajar and Stephen Spiteri, and some 220 other clients out of some €4 million.
As further reviews of the evidence are carried out, that sum may well rise to as much as €6.8 million.
Mr Bugeja headed a company named Maltese Cross Financial Services Limited.
The trouble began in 2008 when one particular investment went wrong. He tried to recuperate his losses by reinvesting other customers’ money but the situation ended up snowballing into a massive loss, sources close to the case said.
Standing in the dock, Mr Bugeja spoke only to confirm his not guilty plea and that he was a director of the failed company.
Defence lawyer Joe Giglio said that at this stage of the proceedings, he was not requesting bail.
Two other directors were allegedly fleeced by the accused
Magistrate Doreen Clarke ordered that all his assets be frozen, allowing only for him to withdraw some €14,000 a year for living expenses. Investors in Maltese Cross Financial Services Ltd have been filing judicial protests against the directors in the past days holding them responsible for breaking regulations and giving them bad investment advice.
The firm is currently being investigated by the MFSA and its operations have been suspended.
Mr Bugeja’s licence to act as a director, financial adviser, compliance officer and money laundering reporting officer was revoked.
The two other directors, Mr Cutajar and Mr Spiteri, are the ones who had filed a criminal complaint against Mr Bugeja after they were allegedly fleeced by the accused and duped into becoming directors, thinking that the company was doing well.
Lawyers Giannella de Marco, Stefano Filletti, Adrian Delia, Kathleen Grima and Gianluca Caruana Curran appeared as parte civile.