Mark Gaffarena’s request for the court to stop a family from selling their part of a Valletta property, at the centre of a controversial expropriation, to third parties was an “abuse of the judicial system”, the family’s lawyer said yesterday.
Lawyer Tanya Sciberras Camilleri argued in court that the family wanted to wait for the results of two ongoing investigations before selling their share to Mr Gaffarena.
Mr Gaffarena yesterday requested the court to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop the Cefai family from selling their part of the property (a quarter) to third parties.
The government has already controversially expropriated half ownership of the Valletta property for €1.65 million, dealing only with Mr Gaffarena in two separate deals.
This was confirmed by Dr Sciberras Camilleri yesterday, who said the family had never been approached by the government to buy their share.
She pointed out the government was free to do so since the President’s declaration of expropriation referred to a quarter of the property, not the quarter owned by Mr Gaffarena.
The Cefai family signed a promise of sale agreement with Mr Gaffarena last March, when this newspaper had not yet revealed the details of the unusual expropriation.
‘Not prudent’ to make sale
On May 31, Times of Malta exposed details how Mr Gaffarena had bought a part of the property (a quarter) from another family for €139,762 and sold it to the government a few weeks later for €822,500.
The revelations continued over the next three weeks, leading to two investigations into the expropriation – one by the Auditor General and another by the Internal Investigations Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Dr Sciberras Camilleri argued that as the media attention on the controversial expropriation intensified, Mr Gaffarena was suddenly in a rush to close the sale, requesting the Cefai family to sign off on the deal earlier this month. The sellers did not turn up for the appointment.
Mr Gaffarena’s lawyer, Keith Bonnici, argued the appointment at the notary had been agreed upon. He said the warrant was necessary for Mr Gaffarena to “protect his rights”.
The sellers are still able to sell their share to third parties but Mr Gaffarena is adamant they should not sell to someone else – he made a profit of €685,000 within a few weeks in the previous deal and he was set to make the same hefty profit.
Dr Sciberras Camilleri, together with a second lawyer of the Cefai family Reuben Balzan, countered there was no need for a warrant since the promise of sale agreement expires in March next year.
There was no rush to conclude this sale, she argued, and stressed it was “not prudent” for the sale to go ahead at this moment in time. The request for a warrant was an abuse of the judicial system, she argued.
She also pointed out that there were financial issues, since the government has so far bought two quarters of the property at €822,500 each, in two separate contracts.
The Mercieca family which has already sold Mr Gaffarena part ownership (a quarter) of a Valletta property for €139,762 is facing a tax investigation.
They sold their part to Mr Gaffarena for the same value listed on the Cefai family’s promise of sale agreement, but it is the government architect’s evaluation that the tax department considers as the true value.
The Mercieca family now faces a tax bill that can amount to more than the amount they received for the sale of their share to Mr Gaffarena. This is the scenario the Cefai family faces if they proceed with the sale to Mr Gaffarena.
Meanwhile, the two ongoing investigations are also looking into revelations by this newspaper that the seven parcels of land the government gave Mr Gaffarena as payment were extremely undervalued, according to the estimates of independent architects commissioned by Times of Malta.