Court clears lupus sufferer of eight fraud charges in disability benefit scandal

A 59-year-old woman was acquitted of all charges related to receiving €20,895 in disability benefits using false documents, after a court found she genuinely suffered from the qualifying medical condition and was unaware of the deception perpetrated by the source who provided the paperwork.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, Magistrate Leonard Caruana cleared Monica Borg of eight criminal charges linked to her receipt of Severe Disability Assistance (SDA) benefits, following a police prosecution arising from an investigation by the Department of Social Security.

The case stemmed from an October 2020 inquiry into a number of SDA applications that were found to be highly similar in content and format.

Borg had faced charges of document falsification, use of forged documents, making a false declaration to a public authority, and fraud to the detriment of the government, under various provisions of the Criminal Code.

The prosecution alleged Borg knowingly relied on falsified medical certificates to secure the benefit, which pays €405 every four weeks. In total, she received €20,895.15 before the matter was flagged and investigated.

The path to Grixti

The investigation found that Borg’s application for the SDA benefit was submitted online on 22 April 2020. Borg and her husband Carmel testified that they sought help around 2019/2020 because her husband had retired but was facing delays in receiving his pension, and they needed financial assistance to cover the high cost of her gluten-free (Celiac) diet.

They were directed to a man at the Labour Party Club in Fgura, who gave them an envelope for a man named Neville in Paola. Neville, in turn, gave them a sealed envelope and instructed them to visit Silvio Grixti at his pharmacy in Żejtun. Borg testified she had never met or heard of Grixti before this encounter.

Borg claimed after reviewing her blood tests, Grixti initially stated he could not help, and she paid him approximately €20. However, as she and her husband were leaving, Grixti stopped them, confirmed her medication, and then told her she was ill with Lupus and was entitled to social assistance.

Borg stated because he was a doctor, she could not contradict him. Grixti then filled out the application form himself and submitted it via email due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

When she was called to appear before the SDA Board in Santa Venera, Borg contacted Grixti again, who gave her a sealed envelope containing a certificate to present to the Board. She insisted he did not ask for money or political favours.

False documents versus true illness

The application contained a certificate allegedly signed by Silvio Grixti and another allegedly issued by Emanuel Farrugia. 

Farrugia testified that he did not issue the document, noting the signature appeared to be a photocopy, and confirmed he had never examined Monica Borg. Police investigations confirmed documents annexed, including those related to Transport Malta, were non-authentic.

Despite the falsified documents, the court found the core fact of the application to be true. Borg has suffered from symptoms including headaches, body pain, and joint pain since childhood, and her husband testified she displayed a "butterfly rash," synonymous with Lupus.

Court-appointed medical expert Mario Scerri examined Borg and confirmed through her original Mater Dei file that she was under the care of Consultant Rheumatologist Bernard Coleiro and was taking medication specific for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). DColeiro also confirmed Borg had been an out-patient for SLE since at least 2018.

The acquittal

Magistrate Caruana ruled the prosecution failed to prove several legal elements necessary for a conviction.

On the charges relating to the falsification and use of false documents, the court acknowledged the medical certificate submitted in support of the application was false.

However, it found the prosecution had failed to prove that Borg was the author of the falsification or that she had any role in its creation.

The court also took note of the conclusion reached by handwriting expert Alberta Borg, who testified that the signature on the SDA application form was not Monica Borg’s. As to the use of the documents, the court accepted Borg’s evidence that she was unaware that the certificate given to her by Silvio Grixti was not genuine.

Turning to the charge of making a false declaration to a public authority, the court noted that the offence required proof of specific intent, or scienter, to deceive.

While the certificate was formally false, the court found that the core information it conveyed, that Borg suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus had been proven to be factually correct through specialist medical evidence.

In those circumstances, the court held that Borg had not submitted a document containing false information or declarations.

With respect to the fraud charges, Magistrate Caruana ruled the formal element of the offence was lacking.

He observed fraud requires proof of deceit or the existence of an external apparatus, or mise-en-scène, intended to mislead a person of ordinary prudence.

Given that Borg genuinely suffered from the medical condition, was already under specialist care, and testified that she had been unaware of the SDA benefit until she was told she was entitled to it by Grixti, the prosecution had failed to establish that she had created a fraudulent scenario to unjustly profit.

The court consequently found Monica Borg not guilty of all eight charges.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi appeared for Borg.

Inspectors Wayne Rodney Borg and Andy Rotin prosecuted.