Court throws out AG appeal in €200,000 diamond dispute, confirms woman never committed crime

A long-running dispute between former partners over a €200,000 diamond collection has ended with the Court of Criminal Appeal confirming no criminal offence had ever been committed by the woman accused, rejecting the Attorney General’s appeal in its entirety.

The case revolved around a series of diamonds businessman Trevor Zammit had acquired over the years as investments and gifts during his relationship with Louise Anna Sammut, with whom he lived and shared a daughter.

The jewellery was routinely worn by Sammut, kept on her dresser, and, according to all evidence, always in her lawful possession.

The dispute erupted on 28 May 2023, when Zammit returned from a holiday and noticed that some of the diamonds were not where he expected them to be.

Through his lawyer, he filed a police report, which investigators classified as a case of pretended rights, a criminal offence requiring proof that the accused unlawfully deprived another of possession in the presence of a public authority.

However, the court noted that none of the legal elements required for this offence were remotely satisfied.

Testimony, WhatsApp exchanges, photographs, and the daughter’s statement all confirmed that Sammut already possessed the diamonds, had continuous use of them, and had never taken them unlawfully. Even Zammit’s own messages acknowledged that she kept the items in her room and used them regularly.

The Court stressed that under Maltese criminal law, the offence hinges on possession, not ownership. The prosecution must prove that the accused did not have possession and then falsely claimed to have it in front of a public authority.

Here, the parties’ long-term cohabitation, the history of gifting, and the established pattern of use made it indisputable that Sammut was in lawful possession of the jewellery.

The appellate court found no criminal intent, no deprivation of possession, and no act capable of constituting the offence. It affirmed the first-court judgment, concluding there was “nothing at law that could sustain a conviction”.

The Attorney General’s appeal was therefore dismissed, and the acquittal confirmed in full.

Sammut was represented by lawyers Nicolai Bugeja and Joseph Bugeja.