|
Matthew Vella
A futile attempt at bribing a fictitious police officer forced Ivan Zahra to borrow Lm10,000 from his parents and a bank, and later sell his house, after an insurance scam found its way to police investigators.
Gino Zammit was ordered by a court to repay Lm10,000 to his neighbour Ivan Zahra, who paid the money under the false impression that he would no longer be investigated for insurance fraud by the police.
Zahra claimed he was first induced into filing a false insurance claim after a trip to Istanbul in January 2001 with Gino Zammit, a soldier who also imported clothes from Turkey, with whom he wanted to set up business. Upon their return, the two said they were robbed, and both of them successfully claimed Lm880 each from Middlesea Insurance.
Then in March 2001, Zahra filed another false claim with GasanMamo Insurance, for lost luggage after another trip with Zammit in Istanbul, which was however refused by the insurance company.
This time, Middlesea Insurance wrote to both parties asking them to refund the Lm880 they had claimed. While Zahra considered returning the money, Gino Zammit insisted with him that the firm had no evidence that their claim was not genuine, and according to Zahra, threatened him not to give the game away.
When Middlesea reported the matter to the police, Zahra seemed intent on admitting, but Zammit said he knew somebody who, against payment, could stop the police investigations” – something he later denied in Court.
Zahra paid Lm10,000 in separate payments to Zammit. Although the latter denied having received the cash, the claim was corroborated by the fact that Zahra had loaned Lm3,300 from his parents for the bribe, and even loaned Lm5,500 from Bank of Valletta under the false premise that he needed the money to buy furniture. He was in fact “buying” the furniture from Gino Zammit himself, a ploy to enable him to get the money.
Zahra later told the court he had suspected that his neighbour had pocketed the money himself, seeing that he had gone on a cruise holiday several times with his wife, purchased new furniture and even two cars. When he asked to meet the third party who had allegedly received the money, Zammit said the meeting would not be possible.
When in October 2001 the two parties were arrested and questioned by the police, both stuck to their version of the story, claiming the insurance claims were genuine.
But after speaking to a priest, and later consulting a lawyer, Zahra admitted to the charge, refunded Middlesea the sum of Lm880 and withdrew his claim with GasanMamo.
Zahra’s father even said his son had to sell his house because he could not possibly live any longer next to Zammit. Magistrate Tonio Mallia noted that Zahra’s version of events had been corroborated and was morally convincing: “The fact that Zahra seriously feared the police’s action, means that something was really wrong.”
|
