A tax assessor has been cleared of asking two men for Lm5,000 each in order to reduce the fine they had to pay for tax evasion after the court was not convinced about the version of the two men who made the allegations.

The man, 43, from Floriana, whose name cannot be published by court order, was cleared of asking two men for Lm5,000 each. On the other hand, the court heard how it was these men who asked the tax assessor if he could do them a favour and reduce the fines.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Giovanni Grixti heard how in March 2004, two men filed a police report claiming that the tax assessor, who had started working at the Tax Department four months prior, asked them for Lm5,000 each in order to reduce their fines substantially.

The court heard how the defendant had informed the two men that the department was investigating them over the low tax return that they had submitted. One man declared Lm8,600 and the other Lm2,800. This, according to the Tax Department, was too low for two men who were involved in the purchase of a plot of land and the construction of six maisonettes and six garages and their sale.

Following the calculation of the tax evaded, the Tax Department imposed a Lm47,000 fine on one and a Lm50,000 fine on the other. The men alleged that the defendant asked them for Lm5,000 each to reduce their fine to Lm17,000 and Lm20,000 respectively.

The court heard how when they met the tax assessor, one of the men told him: “Can’t we reach some form of agreement?” The court also heard that when they were asked for the documentation related to the purchase and sale of property, they said that these documents were destroyed in a fire but, it resulted, that neither the police nor the Civil Protection Department was informed about the alleged fire.

Magistrate Mallia said the court could not believe the version of the two men alleging the request for a bribe, especially since this was the prosecution’s only evidence. He therefore cleared the tax assessor of the charges brought against him.

Police inspector Joseph Cordina prosecuted.