A notary and witness to the will of a cancer victim have been acquitted of forging his signature because court experts could not conclusively state that it was fake.

Anthony Agius, 61, from Qormi and Generoso Sammut, 58, from Siġġiewi had been charged with forging Nicholas Borg’s signature on August 23, 2001. Mr Borg died on November 14 of that same year.

The case was reported to police after Mr Borg’s nephew, Emanuel Scerri, alleged that the signature on the last will differed to the previous two.

In the final will, Mr Borg left money to his brother, even though the two were not on speaking terms, and made another man, Richard Gauci, who was not a member of the family, his universal heir, Mr Scerri said.

Mr Scerri contacted two calligraphy experts and then passed on their findings to the police who took action and charged Mr Agius and Mr Sammut.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said that, going by the findings of court appointed experts Juliana Scerri Ferrante and Martin Bajada, it could not be conclusively stated that the signature had been forged because of a pre-existing medical condition.

Dr Scerri Ferrante said that, while the signature in question did not contain the deceased’s characteristics, Mr Borg suffered from a medical condition that affected his right arm and hand, which could have changed the way he signed documents.

Mr Sammut’s nephew Charlo Attard, who was also a witness at the signing of the will, said he saw the deceased sign.

Magistrate Demicoli concluded that the prosecution failed to produce a controlled sample, such as the other two wills, so that the court could have carried out its own examination. Furthermore, the experts could not conclusively state that the signature had been forged.

The prosecution, she ruled, failed to prove its case.

Arthur Azzopardi and Kathleen Grima appeared for Dr Agius.

Tonio Azzopardi appeared for Mr Sammut. Frank Cassar represented Mr Scerri.