News • 10 November 2002

Spiteri will remain behind bars

Employed MLP officials’ children during Labour administration

By Matthew Vella

Kordin - Dr Spiteri will remain behind bars until the court deliberates. A legal expert told MaltaToday that Dr Spiteri could not reapply for bail after having ignored the bail conditions.

Though his request was turned down by the court, Dr Spiteri proceeded with his travel, leaving on Tuesday and returning on Thursday of last week. Later that day, the Attorney General filed an application for Dr Spiteri’s rearrest.

The notorious lawyer from Wardija was appointed as a tax specialist by the Labour finance ministry for the introduction of CET. But before that he was one of four lawyers helping the Nationalist administration with the introduction of VAT.

During Labour’s 1996-1998 administration, Dr Patrick Spiteri had employed three young persons. These were none other than the daughter of then Finance Minister Leo Brincat, then Mid Med Bank Chairman, Alfred Mifsud’s son, and one of ex-Labour MP Dr Joe Buttigieg’s children. Dr Joe Buttigieg was also an ex-Chairman of Mid-Med Bank.

Asking about the coincidental nature of this recruitment, Leo Brincat told MaltaToday that his daughter had been employed by Patrick Spiteri for only a couple of weeks, until she had found alternative employment. Mr Brincat said he was not aware of the other two people employed in Patrick Spiteri’s firm.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Mr Alfred Mifsud and Dr Joe Buttigieg had no comments to make. Mr Mifsud said he had not been communicating with his son in that particular period, whilst Dr Buttigieg had nothing to say.

Patrick Spiteri used his knowledge on tax to advise countless clients on investment opportunities. On a change in government he employed the services of the former MLP president Mario Vella and former MDC chief and Daphne Caruana Galizia, the controversial and highly paid PR consultant.

He also used the services in his company of Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, a former Nationalist MP and presently Malta ambassador to Vienna.

The notorious lawyer recently hit the headlines again when he was jailed after having his bail revoked for breaching a travel restriction.

The 37-year-old Wardija lawyer is contesting two counts of forgery and of fraud, after being charged with the forgery of a contract and counterfeiting the signature of Notary John Debono. Dr Spiteri is also being charged with defrauding Emanuel Muscat.

Dr Spiteri had been granted bail on 2 October 2002 and was bound against a personal guarantee of Lm5,000 not to leave Malta unless he obtained a court authorisation.

His October 28 application requesting leave to travel to Italy and London between Tuesday and Wednesday had been denied by the Criminal Court.