Criminal lawyer Joe Giglio today said that it is a “huge mistake” that people in Malta are dragged to court purely on the basis of a Police report being filed, without any proper investigation taking place.

His client, construction magnate and PN benefactor Zaren Vassallo, is charged with perjury and exhibiting false minutes during a civil case in which he is being sued for €200,000 for the termination of a construction contract.

Mr Vassallo denies the charges.

Dr Giglio said that the report against his client was filed in 2010 yet the charge sheet covers the period August 2013 and the “months and years” before.

“This case could drag back to the building of the megalithic temples with these charges if Mr Vassallo was involved in their construction,” Dr Giglio said.

Magistrate Carol Peralta agreed that Police charges are usually more specific, and in this case they seem to be very vague.

The dispute between the two parties revolves around the termination of a contract by Mr Vassallo given to Joseph Vella, the owner of Avantgarde Ltd. The contract was terminated due to delays and unsatisfactory works.

Mr Vella says that the minutes of a board meeting show that he was supposed to start the works on 4 October 2005, yet Mr Vassallo says he was never in possession of these minutes.

Mr Vella says that the minutes presented by Mr Vassallo in the civil cases contained everything except the starting date for the works.

The defence was also up in arms when lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, who appeared parte civile for Mr Vella, requested that Mr Vassallo’s computer be checked by a court appointed expert in order to ascertain the contents of an e-mail with the minutes sent by the board secretary.

Dr Giglio said that Mr Vassallo’s computer could have been checked during the course of the Police investigation, and the email containing the minutes was sent by the board secretary and not by Mr Vassallo himself or his personal secretary.

The case continues next month.