A defence lawyer assisting the daughters of former EU Commissioner John Dalli has lamented the fact that no headway has been registered in spite of criminal proceedings having dragged on for months.
Lawyer Stefano Filletti was winding up Wednesday’s sitting in the compilation of evidence against the Dalli sisters and four foreign nationals alleged to have masterminded a scheme which swindled investors out of their life savings.
Louise Dalli, Claire Gauci Borda, Eloise Marie Corbin Klein, Charles Ray Jackson, Elizabeth Jean Jackson and Robert Mitchell McIvor are facing charges of money laundering, misappropriation of funds, fraud, making a false declaration to a public authority and the falsification and use of documents.
Ms Gauci Borda stands separately charged with breaching the Money Laundering And Financing Of Terrorism Act and with failing to carry out her professional duties as an accountant and auditor.
“This case is dragging on far too long. It’s already been ongoing for months and all because the prosecution chose to present their case in this way when they were aware of this problem from the outset” Dr Filletti remarked.
The ‘problem’ referred to stemmed from the fact that two of the accused, namely Elizabeth Jean Jackson and Eloise Marie Corbin Klein, have so far never made an appearance in the proceedings.
Their counsel, Dr Arthur Azzopardi, informing the court, during the very first hearing, that one of the women had survived a stroke, while the other had mobility problems which impeded both from being physically present in court.
Earlier on in the proceedings, Magistrate Aaron Bugeja appointed a psychiatrist to examine Ms Jackson so as to determine whether the ‘serious health reasons’ cited to explain her non-appearance in court, were truly justified.
The court-appointed psychiatrist, Consultant Ethel Felice told the court on Wednesday that after examining Ms Jackson and after analyzing her medical files,she had concluded that the patient was suffering from severe dementia and was disoriented. The patient's recent memory was severely impaired and she had manifested a cognitive decline. Even her personality had changed and she was completely disoriented as to time, place and person. The patient also had a speech impairment, Dr Felice explained.
All this made Ms Jackson unfit to stand trial, the psychiatrist concluded.
Faced with this scientific evidence, Dr Filletti drew attention to the fact that the prosecution had known of these medical difficulties and yet had chosen to present their case in this manner, namely instituting proceedings jointly against all six of the accused.
“They knew of this problem. Now they cannot claim some fortuitous event. They must take a decision,” Dr Filletti stressed.
Magistrate Bugeja declared that the court was expecting the prosecution to take a decision on the way forward by the next sitting in June.
In a previous sitting, medical expert Dr Mario Scerri, also appointed by the court, had testified that Ms Corbin Klein did have mobility issues but could, in principle, attend court sittings if specialized transport could be provided.
Ms Jackson had suffered a stroke and had difficulty in communicating, Dr Scerri had informed the court and had recommended that a psychiatrist ought to be appointed to evaluate her mental state, an evaluation which was brought to light in today’s sitting.
Inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted. Dr Stefano Filletti and Dr Stephen Tonna Lowell are counsel to the Dalli sisters Dr Arthur Azzopardi is counsel to the other four co-accused.