Accountant Joe Sammut today was released on bail after he pleaded not guilty to a string of charges including fraud, misappropriation of funds, money laundering and the falsification of documents.  

Mr Sammut, 58, from St Paul’s Bay, was allegedly helping Libyans obtain residence permits by creating fictitious companies. Investigators looked into hundreds of companies he helped set up before pressing charges against him.

The former PL treasurer and election candidate, who was arraigned under arrest, faces a total of 13 charges, which also include making use of false documents and breach of his professional duties as an accountant. 

When shown copies of their files from the Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs Department – which were linked to their residency applications filed through Mr Sammut’s office - the witnesses said the documents had the correct details but the signatures on them were not theirs.

Some of the documents – the lease agreements for the properties they were supposedly staying at – included photocopies of ID cards of landlords they had never met or spoken to. The three men claimed they had never seen the documents before. They also told the court that they had not received receipts for thousands of euro in fees paid to Mr Sammut’s office, although one of them said he had received a receipt via Viber (a mobile messaging app) when he asked for it.

The first witness, Hesham Salaheddin Ahmed Enaas, said he had set up MES Ltd through Mr Sammut’s office with the aim of importing medical equipment to Libya. He paid €2,000 in registration fees to a representative of Mr Sammut but never received a receipt. He confirmed that the signatures on his residency application were not his and he did not know the landlord listed on the lease agreement. He also did not live in the indicated property. The witness said he was to have shares worth €100,000 in the company, which he held in stock since he did not have a Maltese bank account in which to deposit money.

The second witness, Fousi Ghait Elzeletni, set up Al Remal Ltd. The man said he intended to buy clothes in Malta and sell them in Libya. He and two other shareholders had paid €1,700 each in fees to Sammut’s office. No receipts were given. The witness said he did not know if his residence permit was accepted or not and that he was always told, when he checked, that the application was not read yet. Mr Elzeletni told the court that he wanted to do things legally and that had Mr Sammut’s office acted correctly, his company would not have ended up in the middle of these legal proceedings.

The third witness of the day, Abdallah Meftah Bakeer, said he set up Trusted Teams Ltd through Mr Sammut’s office. His aim was to export cars to Libya from Malta. He and two other shareholders paid Sammut’s firm €6,500 in administrative fees. Initially he was not given a receipt but when he requested one he was sent a receipt via the mobile app Viber.

The three men identified Mr Sammut in court but said their applications were processed by one of his employees, a certain Eve.

At the start of the sitting the defence team objected to the prosecution’s request to summon the witnesses today. Mr Sammut’s lawyers, Michael Schriha, Martin Fenech and Simon Micallef Stafrace, said the fact that the witnesses were promised immunity in this case if they testified against Mr Sammut would render their testimony null and inadmissible.

After hearing the witnesses, the court, presided by Magistrate Doreen Clarke, ordered a freeze on Mr Sammut’s assets. He was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €15,000. Mr Sammut was ordered to sign the bail book at the Qawra police station three times a week and told not to approach any witnesses, including his employees, who will be summoned to testify when the case continues on 3 September.

Inspectors Jonathan Ferris, Lara Butters and William Scicluna prosecuted. 

'Phantom stocks'

The Times of Malta reported yesterday that many of the companies set up by Mr Mifsud were listed as holding thousands of euros in “phantom” stock. It carried out an exercise into nine companies he set up revealed how the share capital in every case is fully paid up and quoted in tranches of 100,000 shares of €1 each. (In order to be eligible for a residence permit, foreigners have to ‘invest’ at least €100,000 in a new company.) However the allotment to the shareholders consists of tradable stock. The fact that the companies, however, never traded in Malta raised suspicions over the veracity of the invoices and the existence of the stocks.

Joe Sammut has a rather chequered past due to his allegedly close ties with the Gaddafi family. The Wall Street Journal says that Mr Gaddafi started opening BOV accounts in 2002, under the guise of Malta-incorporated companies that he controlled. The accounts’ assets swelled from €700 to at least €60 million in early 2011, just before the Libyan revolution. Joe Sammut opened a number of shell companies on Gaddafi’s behalf. Court transcripts of the testimony given by Mr Sammut show that he did not flag the large money transfers in and out of the BOV accounts in question as being suspicious.

He was an unsuccesful Labour Party candidate on the 11th and 12th districts in general elections held between 1996 and 2008.  

 

Photos: Jonathan Borg, Video Paul Jones