Silvio Grixti Court Sitting Postponed After Magistrate Abstains
Former Labour MP Silvio Grixti was scheduled to be formally charged for his involvement in the major disability benefits racket this morning, but the arraignment was postponed because the magistrate abstained.
Magistrate Leonard Caruana said that he was abstaining from hearing the case moments before it was supposed to begin because he became aware of certain proceedings, Times of Malta reported.
The Żejtun family doctor was supposed to be charged alongside four other people in connection with a social benefits racket that gave claimants often from Labour strongholds €450 monthly for severe disabilities they did not have.
Grixti was expected to face charges of forming part of a criminal group, fraud, falsifying documents, making false declarations, money laundering, and purchasing property when knowing it came from criminal activity.
The others expected to be charged with him were Roger Agius, 45, Emmanuel Spagnol, 69, Dustin Caruana, 36, and Luke Saliba, 33.
The case may be reassigned to a different magistrate before the defendants can be charged.
Lawyer Jason Azzopardi stated that he had no problem with Caruana presiding over the case while lawyer Franco Debono asked to be given time to register his official position on the matter.
The magistrate then ordered everyone out of the courtroom and spoke with lawyers behind closed doors.
Agius was Grixti’s chauffeur and is thought by prosecutors to have had a significant role in the scheme. Agius requested a judicial investigation into the fraud concerning social benefits, expressing his readiness to disclose everything about the “criminal organisation” tied to the fraud, provided he receives whistleblower protection.
Meanwhile, Spagnol is believed to have acted as an intermediary in the scheme, whereas Caruana is thought to have been a courier. Saliba is suspected of using his computer expertise to further the fraud.
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