Man charged over false address declaration in Siġġiewi 'ghost voters' case

A 66-year-old man from Siġġiewi has been charged with making a false declaration to the authorities in relation to the Siġġiewi gerrymandering case.

The case dates back to April, where 99 voters were found to have been falsely registered as residing in Binja Silvio Parnis, a social housing project still under construction at the time. A court had ordered that the voters’ official addresses be transferred back to their current place of residence and instructed the police to investigate the matter. 

MaltaToday had reported that the "ghost voters" had their ID cards transferred to the new address in the past three weeks despite the building not yet able to house people. Significantly, 73% of these people hail from three localities that form part of housing minister Roderick Galdes’s constituency. Galdes had referred to the case as "media spin."

On Wednesday, pensioner Eugenio Camenzuli appeared before magistrate Anne Marie Thake on Wednesday, having been arraigned by summons. Camenzuli pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Economic Crimes Unit police inspector Michael Tabone, prosecuting, told the court that the police had received four decrees issued by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech on 15 May, recommending further investigations into false declarations allegedly made by Camenzuli when he changed his address to Binja Silvio Parnis.

Magistrate Frendo Dimech had conducted a physical site visit to the building, discovering that it was uninhabited. At the time that Camenzuli had been registered as a resident in Binja Silvio Parnis, he had actually been living elsewhere, with his sister.

Camenzuli was arrested and questioned in June 2024, found to be still living with his sister in Siġġiewi. 

Although the man’s social housing accomodation was still unfurnished at the time, he had submitted forms to Identità, declaring that he had moved into the apartment.

Tabone argued that Camenzuli had made a false declaration by providing incorrect information to the authorities about his residential address.

The inspector requested the court’s permission to exhibit the records of the case which had led to the criminal proceedings. Lawyer Ramona Attard, assisting Camenzuli in this case, objected on the grounds that her client had not been given his legal rights during those proceedings, which were also separate and in which Camenzuli’s defence could not have cross-examined witnesses.

The court, however, upheld the prosecution's request and ordered that the records of that case be also exhibited in the proceedings against Camenzuli, ordering that its witnesses be summoned to testify in order for the defence to cross-examine them should they wish to.

The case was adjourned to November.