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Matthew Vella
There has been little public outcry from the authorities on MaltaToday’s reports of abusive land deals which took place in Ta’ l-Ibragg, Swieqi, where unsuspecting buyers purchased homes on land which is government-owned.
In its previous reports, MaltaToday has been informed of how notaries and banks neglected their duties or failed to assure themselves of the legitimacy of the sale of land in the Ta’ l-Ibragg area known as l-Ghalqa ta’ Giakondu, a tract of land covering seven tumoli which was once owned by the Maltese Archdiocese, and today is government-owned.
The crux of the matter lies in the conflicting claims on the contents of an 1826 inheritance, and the conundrum of two conflicting contracts of sale for the inheritance.
The land at l-Ghalqa ta’ Giakondu in Ta’ l-Ibragg, was in fact sold by Spiteri Holdings to different companies and buyers, when the area in question was owned by the Maltese Church.
Spiteri Holdings had in fact claimed the land originated from an inheritance it had acquired back in 1996, namely the inheritance of siblings Paolo and Tereza Xuereb.
From evidence seen by MaltaToday, the Xuereb inheritance, according to a report by a Court expert, does not include any of the land at l-Ghalqa ta’ Giakondu, which is today government-owned land that was transferred from the Maltese Archdiocese.
In fact, the land bestowed by the Xuerebs were two plots of land located at the end of Triq tal-Franciz, in the area known as Tal-Franciz, located 775 metres away from l-Ghalqa ta’ Giakondu. The two fields each measure 31 square metres, and lie outside the development zone.
This was in fact clearly stated in a contract of sale between Spiteri Holdings and Fr Renato Valente, the testamentary executor of the Xuereb inheritance, drawn up by Notary Anthony Abela.
As the contract clearly states, the assets of the inheritance identified by Court expert Rene Buttigieg were described by Notary Abela as “some portions situated in the limits of Tal-Franciz in the area of Swieqi, Malta, not specified because the property list is dispersed and therefore the property cannot be specifically identified… including any credit, action, or claim or any other rights in favour and/or against the inheritance.” Buttigieg identified the land as two fields, valuing them at Lm7,000.
Most importantly, Abela also wrote in this contract that Spiteri Holdings recognised the fact that the property could be subject to claims of other titles of ownership, entailing the risk that “the acquirer might not have any legal title to the property. For this reason, the buyer is exempting the seller from the guarantee of peaceful possession…”
MaltaToday has revealed that a second, revised deed of purchase deposited with the public registry, referring to the sale of the Xuereb inheritance, has these two important notes missing: there is no description of the assets of the Xuereb inheritance; and neither is there mention that Spiteri Holdings acquired this land without the guarantee of peaceful possession, the surety that the buyer has full rights of ownership over the land.
Allegedly, this ambivalent description could serve to mislead buyers and notaries conducting searches on any land that Spiteri Holdings is selling, whilst claiming that it had originated from the Xuereb inheritance.
At the time of going to print, questions sent to Notary Anthony Abela’s communications coordinator, at the Parliamentary Secretariat in the Office of the Prime Minister, had not been answered.
Fr Renato Valente, who was the testamentary executor of the Xuereb inheritance, has disassociated himself from the case, stating he was appointed executor of the inheritance by the Second Hall of the Civil Court in 1996 upon recommendation by former executor Fr Rafel Gauci. Only members of the clergy were eligible to execute the inheritance of the Xuereb siblings, as laid down in their will.
He sold the land to Domenico Savio Spiteri, director of Spiteri Holdings, having been informed of this opportunity to sell the inheritance from the previous executor. Valente said he was not aware of the contents of the inheritance, as it was left up to the Court expert to survey and value any land that could have been in the inheritance. Valente also said his earlier association with Spiteri was in a company in which he only owned a one per cent shareholding, and from which he had already resigned before the sale occurred in 1996.
Fr Valente has also stated he never recieved any form of remuneration for the sale of the inheritance; the Lm7,000 from the sale had to be deposited with the Court: these apertained to the rightful heirs of the Xuerebs, whoever they might be.
HSBC Bank Malta Ltd’s comments on the matter have also been scant. Advocate Ethelbert Fenech Adami had appeared on behalf of the bank for the contract of sale of land between Spiteri Holdings Ltd and Terra Mediterranea on 15 July, 2002, for two plots of land at Triq Wied Mejxu, in l-Ghalqa ta’ Giakondu.
In the contract of sale, Spiteri Holdings claimed that the land at Triq Wied Mejxu had originated from the Xuereb inheritance and carried the guarantee of peaceful possession.
Asked whether HSBC conducted its own appropriate searches to confirm the sale of the land, an HSBC spokesperson said the bank does not discuss with third parties matters which involve customers or which are the object of current lawsuits.
Nine days after officially becoming the ‘owner’ of the two plots of land at Triq Wied Mejxu, Terra Mediterranea signed a promise of sale agreement (konvenju) with Elton and Cheryll Penza for a finished home.
In fact, Terra Mediterranea had already built finished homes on the land before technically becoming the presumed ‘owner’ of the land, a fact that strengthens past associations between Spiteri Holdings and Terra Mediterranea.
The two companies had already been indicted in cases of trespassing over land owned by Marcus Marshall, Neville Xuereb and NMR Ltd in the area known as Tal-Franciz. Raymond Aquilina, director of Terra Mediterranea, was found guilty of having entered the land and removing the foundations of an existing construction in progress. Spiteri Holdings was not found guilty, although the Court, in its judgement, clearly underlined the association between the two companies. In his witness, Domenico Savio Spiteri, claimed he had acquired the land through an inheritance he had purchased from testamentary executor Fr Rafel Gauci.
Correspondence received yesterday at the MaltaToday newsroom has revealed yet another curious twist in the unfolding saga of the abusive land deals occurring in Swieqi.
Domenico Savio Spiteri, the director of Spiteri Holdings, has only recently availed himself of the service of advocate Stefano Filletti, to complain about the past three reports by this newspaper on the abusive sale of land at Ta’ l-Ibragg. Curiously enough, Filletti represents the St Julians Local Council in a suit against Raymond Aquilina, director of Terra Mediterranea.
In his letter, sent by Dr Filletti, Spiteri has objected to the way in which the reports “are attributing bad faith to their actions and worse still, suggesting fictitious fraudulent partnerships or scams.”
The letter continues: “Both Domenico Savio Spiteri and Spiteri Holdings have at all times acted legally and in good faith and to this end I refer you to the letter written by Dr Victor J Bisazza, entitled ‘Who are those notaries?’ published in your newspaper dated 13 June, 2004, who eloquently crystallises the particular legal problems surrounding the case at hand.”
MaltaToday is informed that Dr Filletti is appearing on behalf of St Julians Mayor Peter Bonello in a case against Raymond Aquilina, who allegedly entered land designated for use by the St Julians council for his own ends.
Both Raymond Aquilina, as director of Terra Mediterranea, and Spiteri Holdings, have been associated in cases in which one party was found guilty of trespassing over land it did not own. Both actors have been mentioned in connection with these cases, as having conducted deals with each other.
Contacted by MaltaToday, Dr Filletti denied any form of conflict of interest by representing a party that has been implicated in a case against Raymond Aquilina:
“Spiteri has only recently come to speak to me on this case. There is no direct connection between Spiteri and Raymond Aquilina. I am representing the St Julians Local Council in the case of ‘spoll’ - unlawful possession - against Raymond Aquilina and legal steps were taken to remove that spoll. From the other point of view, I represent the interests of Spiteri in this particular action. All I know about Spiteri Holdings is what has been written in your reports. I have not yet conducted any research on the matter.”
Dr Filletti’s letter was written without prejudice to further legal action that may be taken against this newspaper, in terms of law.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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