Gaffarena offered to sell share in Valletta property before sealing the deal

Mark Gaffarena offered to sell his share in a Valletta property to the government before he had actually bought it out. 

In January 2015, the government paid Gaffarena €822,500 in land and cash for a quarter of the property in Old Mint Street that he had bought for €23,294 in December 2007. In February 2015, Gaffarena bought another quarter of the same property for €139,762, which was subsequently expropriated by the government for another €822,500 two months later.

The property houses the government offices of the Building Industry Consultative Council.

However, according to the Times of Malta, Gaffarena had offered to sell this second quarter to the government on February 13, even though he had only sealed its purchase on February 26. He had signed a promise of sale agreement for it last October. The previous owners had reportedly not been informed of the government’s intentions to expropriate the property, a declaration of which was issued on April 8.

The parliamentary secretary for planning Michael Falzon had approved the deals on behalf of the government. Falzon told the Times that he had signed all expropriation agreements as per normal practice.