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Matthew Vella
The former METCO chairman Norman Zammit, accused in 1999 of involvement in the Grungo art theft from Villa Fiorentina, has appealed a court’s decision ordering him to pay over Lm828,000 in debts to Bank of Valletta.
Zammit and his wife Marie Therese were ordered to pay debts of Lm828,771 after the bank petitioned the court to enforce an earlier appeals court decision that upheld an a decision ordering Zammit to pay the debt, seven years back.
Zammit said the bank’s request was premature because it was Eliza Company Limited, the company he is a shareholder in, which had been paying off the debt through property sales. The company is also owned by Generoso Sammut, the other accused in the art theft of 15 paintings stolen from Villa Fiorentina in Attard.
Eliza Company is currently marketing the sale of 1.5 million square metres of land at Bahrija, where farmers claim the company has tried to bully them off the land which for the past 300 years has been leased to them and their ancestors.
Norman Zammit and his wife claimed that the bank had to proceed against Eliza Company as the principal debtor, and sell off its property by auction in the law courts before proceeding against any individual personally.
Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco declared the two spouses debtors of the bank, and authorised the execution of the 1999 sentence, ordering the couple to pay Lm828,771 with interest dating from 1998, and Lm18,161 in legal expenses.
Eliza Company is currently embroiled in a legal tussle over the presence of farmers on land in Bahrija, which it advertised for sale in 2005. It claimed then on its website that permits were available for the development of fish farms, Disneyland-styled theme parks, golf courses of international standards and a five-star hotel. The website went offline soon after MaltaToday reported the story.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
Links: www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/02/26/t13.html
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