The director of Sand and Gravel Ltd was cleared of misappropriating Lm25,600 worth of Value Added Tax yesterday, after a court declared that the prosecution had not managed to prove the charges they had brought against him.

Emanuel Aquilina, 67, from Swieqi, was cleared of misappropriating Lm25,600 between January 1995 and March 1997. The court heard that Mr Aquilina’s company was owed thousands of liri by other companies and that he had never received any VAT payments that he had not passed on to the VAT Department.

As a result, magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who was presiding over the case, ruled that Mr Aquilina had not received any money from third parties with regard to VAT and therefore had not misappropriated the amount referred to.

The court heard that when the VAT returns for the period January 1995 to March 1997 were compiled, Sand and Gravel Ltd had declared a sale for which it was never paid because the companies it supplied had either filed for bankruptcy or ended up in court to pay the amounts owed.

The court therefore cleared Mr Aquilina of the charges brought against him.

Police Inspector Joseph Cordina prosecuted.