Notary acquitted of being a party to fraud

Notary Antoine Agius has been acquitted of having been a party to the fraud public officers.

He had been facing criminal prosecution after the declared value of a deed of sale he drew up in December 2003 was found to have been lower to the declared value originally found in the promise of sale, with the purpose of this being tax evasion.

In the over 700-page judgement, Magistrate Joseph Mifsud declared that professionals were expected to be morally upright and to uphold robust ethical values, and that trust was essential for the notarial profession.

Legal action in this case had begun when Wendela Ringeling, a Dutch national, claimed she had been a fraud victim when she bought a Swieqi property. She alleged that the promise of sale purchase price was set at Lm145,000, but the final deed declared price was Lm60,000.

After consulting with her notary, Agius informed her that she had in fact authorised the deed through a private writing. The woman’s signature was later proved to have been faked using a superimposition of a genuine signature on a site plan.

However, the court said that the prosecution had not managed to prove that Agius had the intent of defrauding the government, because his involvement was limited to putting down the price which the parties agreed on, and he had had no part in the price negotiations. It had also not supplied any evidence that the notary was aware of the forged signature, and he could only be faulted by accepting a document which was not signed in his presence.

While the notary’s carelessness might be grounds for disciplinary action as a warranted notary, it did not amount to criminal liability.

The court acquitted Agius of all charges.