The Gozo Minister has declared that he sold an apartment in the popular summer village of Marsalforn for €23,300.

Questions are being raised over the latest financial declaration submitted to Parliament by Anton Refalo, who last year owned 21 properties mostly in Gozo.

Sources in the real estate industry told this newspaper that an apartment on the same road as the minister’s would normally be expected to go for a larger sum.

Research on various local property online search engines showed that the cheapest property for sale in Marsalforn, marketed by Remax, was a garage at €35,000, while the lowest price for a shell apartment in the same village according to Gozo Prime stood at €56,000.

On the other hand, the Frank Salt Real Estate website advertised a shell garage for €11,600, while the cheapest price for a studio apartment in Marsalforn was €58,300.

Asked for the apartment’s size and a comment on its sale price, Dr Refalo did not respond.

A comparison of Dr Refalo’s financial declarations (see table below) for the past two years indicates points that seem to require explanation.

Legal work for ‘less than minimum wage’

While in 2012, when still in Opposition, Dr Refalo – a seasoned lawyer – declared a total family income of €45,159 and an outstanding loan of €830,371, a year later his income more than doubled, reaching €116,713.

In 2012, Dr Refalo declared that his income from the legal profession earned him just €6,470 – less than the minimum wage – but in 2013 he declared an income of €13,870 just from legal fees.

Dr Refalo had to leave his job three months into the year when he was appointed Gozo Minister.

Also, despite being the owner of 22 properties, including various farmhouses, apartments and offices, in his 2012 declaration he declared no income from rent.

However, just a year later, it seems that Dr Refalo started renting out some of his properties – declaring an income of €13,500 for 2013.

Asked to say how many of his properties were rented out to third parties in 2012 and 2013 and why he failed to declare any income from rent in 2012, Dr Refalo failed to respond.

In his latest declaration, Dr Refalo declared that he was also paying €2,200 a month for his outstanding loan.

Still, despite forking out €26,400 in loan repayments in 2013, his outstanding loan during the same year went down by €17,888.

He declared an outstanding loan of €812,483 at the end of 2013.

Anton Refalo’s annual declarations