The tenders issued for the sale of three plots of land in Mosta enabled the former police chief to reach an out-of-court settlement in a legal dispute over the land on which his house was built, court documents show.

This newspaper revealed last week that former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit and his brother acquired 383 square metres of land in Fort Road, Mosta, for only €18,600, in June 2014.

The land in question was at the centre of a legal battle in which the former acting police inspector contested government ownership of part of the land on which his house had been built.

The court case, initiated in 2008, ended on February 3 last year with reference to an out-of-court settlement.

When the adverts for the sale of the three plots of land were made in April 2014, there was no minimum value being requested for each plot of land, usually based on an architect’s evaluation. The publication of the minimum value has been common practice in the department since 2009.

This is because the Land Department (now known as the Government Property Division) did not commission an architect to give an estimate of the value of the land, the department confirmed. This is normal procedure when the government is selling public assets.

The department’s estimate was exceeded

When pressed, the Planning Parliamentary Secretariat, which falls under the Office of the Prime Minister, said: “The department’s estimate was exceeded.”

Questioned on what the estimate was based upon, the government said the value was based on a mathematical calculation.

“In this case, the estimated value was mathematically computed in accordance with a ministerial approved policy which states that the ‘value of the land should be based on the value of the land when it was acquired by the current occupier adjusted according to the inflation index plus an annual five per cent till date of sale’,” the secretariat said.

Yet, this calculation is used when the government is expropriating (buying) land for public benefit, not when selling public land, legal experts confirmed.

When this newspaper questioned the procedure, the secretariat referred to a “ministerial policy”. The government has so far not provided a copy of this policy despite repeated requests by this newspaper.

Nor did the secretariat reply when asked whether this was a ministerial decision particular to this case rather than a ministerial policy.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici last week defended the deal, saying the parties acted “bona fide” (in good faith).

Court documents show that the hearing scheduled for December 16, 2014 was postponed because the two parties “still had to finalise the transaction agreed among the two parties”. This shows settlement had not yet been reached eight months after the Zammit brothers had won the bid.

The three plots, amounting to 383 square metres, were bought for €8,200, €4,200 and €6,200 respectively, with the former acting police commissioner getting the lion’s share of the land. Mr Zammit and his brother were the only bidders for each of the three tenders. The secretariat confirmed they had the right of first refusal as the land was of interest to one particular person. Mr Zammit had his house already built on the land.

“The department’s policy is that in calls for tenders for the disposal of land which is subject to a right of first refusal or primarily interest only one person, the minimum value is not published,” the government said.

Yet, similar cases under both the previous and current administration show the minimum value was still published, official records show.

Mr Zammit’s lawyer, Ian Spiteri Bailey, told this newspaper last week about the “long years of legal saga they [the Zammit brothers] had to endure” after the Land Department had instructed them to vacate part of the land on which they had built their homes because they did not have a valid title to the land.

caroline.muscat@timesofmalta.com