Police question Notary Barbara victim's Facebook page admin after widow's report

A former client of deceased notary Ivan Barbara has been questioned by the police and released without charge, after Barbara’s widow filed a police report against her, alleging threats and complaining about a Facebook page set up by persons who claim to have been fleeced by the notary.

MaltaToday has previously reported how clients of notary Ivan Barbara, who died in April 2021 in India after contracting COVID-19, are chasing deposits they entrusted to Barbara after signing promise-of-sale agreements for property acquisitions.

Barbara, 47, died in a hospital outside New Delhi after contracting COVID-19 during his time there with his wife, while in the process of adopting a child. The notary passed away just as he was set to board an air ambulance from Delhi to Malta.

Barbara’s clients have had to file court proceedings to recover their deposits and tax payments which Barbara had not passed on to the tax authorities, after his widow, Roseanne Barbara Zarb, renounced her inheritance of the notary’s estate.

Dozens of former clients had come forward after news about the court proceedings broke. A Facebook page had also been set up with the aim of bringing together those whose property deals were impacted by Barbara’s death and keeping them abreast of developments about related investigations and court cases.

In a post published earlier today, the administrator of the page, one of the notary’s more vocal victims, said she had been called in for questioning at the Paola police station, after Barbara Zarb had filed a report against her.

In comments to the MaltaToday, the administrator explained the report concerned a text message and an incident which occurred several months ago, where she had called at Barbara Zarb’s home in person, and asked to talk to her, in an attempt to avoid the necessity of court proceedings.

The text message in question states: “Madam, I am going to do everything that the law permits to find my money, I have even contacted the media.”

Barbara Zarb had also complained to the police about the Facebook page, but after investigating the complaints, the police declined to press charges, the page administrator said.

The civil case for damages against Barbara Zarb continues next month. A separate case, concerning a magistrate’s order for an in genere inquiry into the possibility that the notary had misappropriated or fraudulently used his clients' funds, is currently subject to an appeal filed by Barbara Zarb.