Maltese Lawyer Let Off The Hook For €700,000 Tax Ruse
An Appeal Court in Malta annulled an order to disbarred lawyer Patrick Spiteri, who has been repeatedly convicted of fraud, to repay a British investor’s heirs €700,000 who gave the money to the law firm in order to evade tax in the UK, Malta Today reported
The late Ronald Luther Phillips filed his case in the First Hall of the Civil Court against Spiteri, Judge Godwin Muscat Azzopardi, their legal firm, and their wives who were declared non-suited to the case by Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon.
This court ordered them to pay almost €700,000, however, Muscat Azzopardi submitted an appeal which was acquitted – stunning the heirs who have been left without a dime.
Philips entrusted £557,543 to the firm Muscat Azzopardi Spiteri and Associates in 2000 and he claimed that the defendants deposited the money in the law firm’s client account, without his consent or knowledge, and refused to give him any further information.
This comes despite alleged repeated requests through his lawyers for a statement of account and a record of investments made with his capital. Therefore, he asked the court to order the defendants to give him a statement of accounts and to refund the money together with any interests or dividends.
The defendants argued that Phillips had to prove ownership of the funds and a due diligence exercise had to be carried out.
However, since Phillips entrusted Spiteri with the cash in an attempt to avoid paying cash elsewhere, the Appeals Court declared that the Maltese courts should not be used to give him a reprieve for any lost cash.
“The scope of this business was the creation of a long chain of transactions to help Phillips in his efforts to avoid paying tax in the United Kingdom, and to hide their real provenance… even though the evasion is not damaging to Malta, it takes nothing away from the gravity of this illicit act. Any fiscal avoidance is always unacceptable, wherever it takes place… even worse when it is used for money laundering, and then aided and abetted by lawyers,” the Appeals Court said, according to Malta Today.
Nonetheless, it continued by criticising any legal attempt by those who avoid tax using Malta.
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