A Sicilian orphanage that inherited part of the estate of a prominent Maltese businessman has filed a court case against 12 heirs claiming they had taken more inheritance that they had the right to.

Fr Vincenzo Latina, on behalf of St Anthony’s Orphanage in Sicily, filed the case against the heirs of the late Gino Miceli claiming they had abusively taken millions of euro worth of shares that were in fact bequeathed to the orphanage and Mr Miceli’s widow.

The application, filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, was also filed against Miceli Holdings Ltd and the Registrar of Companies.

In its application, the orphanage explained that Mr Miceli – who was the majority shareholder of Miceli Holdings Ltd – passed away in September 2005.

In a secret will dated April 9 of that year, Mr Miceli had allocated one fourth of the estate to his wife Lilian Claire while the orphanage was given the remaining three fourths. Mr Miceli had left the bulk of his inheritance to the orphanage which, having had no children of his own, he was extremely fond of.

The will also stated that 12 of his nephews and nieces and another three relatives (who are not involved in the case) were each to be given shares having a value of Lm5,000 (€11,600) in Miceli Holdings that formed the largest part of Mr Miceli’s estate.

The most valuable assets of the company consisted of shares in Simonds Farsons Cisk and Multigas Ltd which currently manages Enemalta Corporation’s gas division.

According to the court application, Mr Miceli’s intention was to give each of the 12 heirs Lm5,000 worth of shares – and not 5,000 shares that were worth Lm1 (€2.33) each at the time of Mr Miceli’s subscription to the shares and which were now worth millions of euro.

There were two types of shares – high-value ordinary shares and redeemable preference shares that were not as valuable.

The orphanage and the widow had no objection to delivering the shares left to the heirs but requested that the actual and market value of the company at the time of Mr Miceli’s death be first established.

That way the number of shares, worth Lm5,000, would be established in order for them to be transmitted to the relevant heirs according to the will.

Meetings were held and Mark Miceli Farrugia, the sole surviving director of the company, was informed through correspondence that the orphanage and widow were interested in disposing of their interests in the company at a fair market price.

Yet, despite this, Mr Miceli Farrugia “did not take any steps to obtain a fair valuation of the shares from the company’s auditors” as was his duty as director.

Between March and December 2008, Mr Miceli Farrugia, in his capacity as company secretary, registered the shares with the Registry of Companies “illegally and abusively” in the name of the 12 heirs.

He registered a total of 60,000 shares (5,000 each) with a nominal value of Lm60,000 and a current market value of millions of euro.

The orphanage claimed that due to the shares’ increase in value over the years they are now worth millions. Consequently, the number of shares which must be added up to reach Lm5,000 was much lower than the 5,000 which they had actually each registered in their favour.

The orphanage claimed that the 12 heirs had acted illegally and abusively when they took hold of more than the Lm5,000 worth of shares left to them in the will. As a result, it was made to suffer an extensive patrimonial loss.

The orphanage called on the court to order the heirs to respect the original will and order the nullity of the registration of the shares.

Lawyers Doran Magri Demajo, Andrew Zammit and Kris Borg represented the orphanage.