The stockbroker Alfred Calamatta, 70, of Calamatta Cuschieri & Co, was cleared by a court of hindering police investigations and making false declarations.
The Appeals Court last week confirmed a magistrate’s sentence that had cleared Calamatta of hindering police searches in a case of foreign exchange fraud and money laundering.
The police claimed Calamatta had been incorrect in his declarations over relations his firm had with two suspects, one of them a foreign exchange dealer.
Calamatta Cuschieri had been issued with an order by the Criminal Court in 2002 to supply information on the foreign exchange dealer and another suspect. According to the prosecuting police inspector, Calamatta replied in writing to the court notification, that there had been no relation between the firm and the suspect being investigated by the police.
When the police conducted a raid at the suspect’s residence, they found various documents and share certificates that had been purchased from Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. On the basis of their discovery, the police claimed Calamatta had been incorrect about the firm’s relationship with the suspect, and decided to search the firm’s offices. There it found a file with the name of the suspect.
In his testimony, Calamatta explained that upon receiving the Criminal Court’s notification, he conducted a search on the firm’s computer that found information on just one of the two suspects being investigated by the police, communicating all the information he had to the police.
He claimed the fact that the police had found a file concerning the suspect in the firm’s top room, meant the file was ‘dormant’ and was in the processed of being filed.
The Court of Magistrates found the police had gone beyond its remit when it asked in writing for information to be supplied by Calamatta because it was not authorised to do so by the Criminal Court. Magistrate Giovanni Grixti said Calamatta was ordered to “show and give access” to the records, but the police had requested the information in writing, instead of accessing the site themselves and looking for the documents they required.
In its judgement, the Appeals Court however clarified that it was not the police that had sent a letter to Calamatta, but it was the stockbroker himself who had replied to the police upon receiving the court notification.
It confirmed there was no hindrance to the investigation, finding that the police and Irish forensic accountants had been given free access to Calamatta’s office even when he was abroad.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt