Lawyers for Chilean businessman Alberto Chang Rajii have accused a Chilean court of “badmouthing” Malta.
Chang Rajii is fighting extradition to Chile, where he is wanted to face charges of investment fraud through a Ponzi scheme run by his company Grupo Arcano. He was arrested in Malta in 2016 and released on bail against a €100,000 deposit.
This morning, Judge Antonio Mizzi, presiding the Criminal court was told that the Chilean prosecutor had “badmouthed” the Maltese court in a recent sitting in Chile. Lawyer Stefano Filletti read out a transcript from June 15 in a sitting against Chang Rajii’s mother Veronica in which the Chilean prosecutor had claimed that judge Mizzi had “on five occasions, for reasons which are not very plausible, adjourned this case.”
Filletti protested that in today’s sitting, the Attorney General’s Office, who is effectively representing the Chilean prosecutor in these proceedings, had asked for an adjournment whilst at the same time their Chilean counterpart was complaining about adjournments.
Judge Mizzi good humouredly replied that he did not need to answer to the Chilean court and that no Chilean prosecutor would tell him what to do.
The judge, who retires in November, scheduled the next sitting for September 19th for final submissions.
Lawyers Elaine Mercieca and Matthew Xuereb are representing the Office of the Attorney General in the proceedings. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephen Tonna Lowell are counsel to Chang Rajii.