Court refuses Gaffarena’s request to force Old Mint Street sale

The property owner who made €1.65 million on a government compensation for the expropriation of his 50% ownership of an Old Mint Street building that houses government offices, has had his demand for an injunction that forces the vendors of 25% of the same building to sell him their share, refused.

In the writ filed against the Cefai family, Mark Gaffarena exhibited a promise-of-sale agreement to sell the property to him. But the defendants have now said they do not want to sign the contract.

In March 2015, he paid a €13,976 deposit for a promise-of-sale agreement to finalise the contract for the €139,762 sale.

But the vendors refused to proceed with the sale when they learnt from the press that Gaffarena was being paid a high compensation from a government expropriation of each of the parts he was purchasing.

Gaffarena asked the court for a warrant of prohibitory injunction to prevent the vendor from withdrawing from the agreement.

The defendants said that since news broke of Gaffarena’s handsome compensation for the expropriation of his properties, the plaintiff had demanded that they sign the contract.