The Malta Independent 25 April 2024, Thursday
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Alfred Mifsud must respect payment agreement with former partner, appeals court rules

Friday, 22 June 2018, 09:05 Last update: about 7 years ago

An appeals court has overturned an original judgement, ordering former Central Bank deputy governor Alfred Mifsud to pay his former partner €6,000.

Anna Zelbst had filed a court application in which she said Mifsud had pledged, in writing, to pay her €3,000 a month as maintenance.

Mifsud argued that it was illegitimate for Zelbst to propose the payment of maintenance for their children, as they are not minors and have legal standing. He also said that it was not true that he assumed an obligation to pay her.

Zelbst had told the court that she and Mifsud had lived together for several years, before splitting up in 2006. The family reunited in 2011, but Mifsud moved out of the home in 2016.

Zelbst said Mifsud had started giving her a €3,000 cheque every month. She had later asked him to start paying her by direct order. Mifsud had signed a written declaration, stating his intention to keep paying the monthly amount.

The declaration was placed in a folder at the house Zelbst lived in with her children. A copy was sent to a lawyer.

Zelbst later alleged that Mifsud had stolen the signed declaration while she was abroad. Mifsud denied the allegation.

Sometime later a number of allegations featuring Mifsud were made on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blog. Mifsud subsequently decided to stop paying Zelbst the €3,000 a month and started paying his children directly, giving them €250 a week.

Zelbst had taken the matter to court, but Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo had ruled that the declaration was not a contract, nor was it a private writing, but was simply a pledge to continue sending her €3,000 a month.

The court had noted that the letter was a promise of his intention, which eventually since certain happenings occured which changed the situation between the parties, resulted in the intention changing. As such Zelbst’s application was rejected.

However, an appeals court presided over by Mr Justice Anthony Ellul ruled that Mifsud had bound himself to pay. The court noted that Mifsud had already started paying the monthly cheques, that he had told Zelbst in a message that he would keep her monthly cheque “whatever”, and in another said “my word is enough but I will send you a signed paper.”

Also, in the signed document he had stated: “I will maintain the monthly allowance of €3,000.”

The court said that the blogs about him did not justify his sudden change of heart, and that the agreement has to be respected.

The original decision was overturned, with Mifsud being ordered to pay Zelbst the €6,000.

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