The former METCO chairman Norman Zammit, accused in 1999 of involvement in the Grungo art theft from Villa Fiorentina, has lost an appeal against the First Court’s decision to pay over Lm828,000 (€1.9 million) in debts to Bank of Valletta.
Zammit and his wife Marie Therese were ordered to pay the total amount of Lm828,771 after the bank petitioned the court to enforce an earlier decision ordering Zammit to pay the debt.
His appeal was described by the Court of Appeal as “vexatious and frivolous” and was ordered to pay double the legal expenses.
Zammit claimed the bank’s request was premature because it was Eliza Company Limited, the company he is a shareholder in, which had been paying off the debt through property sales. Eliza is also owned by Generoso (aka Jimmy) Sammut, another of the accused in the art theft of 15 paintings stolen from Villa Fiorentina in Attard.

Resurface of Eliza
Zammit and his wife had claimed the bank had to proceed against Eliza Company as the principal debtor, and sell off its property by auction in the law courts before proceeding against any individual personally.
Zammit, along with shareholders Emanuel, Joseph and Carmel Baldacchino, Ninu Cuschieri, George Cuschieri, Anthony Galea, and Generoso Sammut are at the heart of a fierce land tussle after farmers in Bahrija reported that the company directors had tried to evict them.
The land was previously owned by the Barony of Bahria, namely Salvatore Consoli-Palermo-Navarra, whose heirs sold the land for Lm1,080 million (€2.5m).
It is now being advertised for sale at €30 million.
In 2005, Eliza Company started marketing the sale of 1.5 million square metres of Bahrija land on the internet.
Eliza Company has also asked the Courts to evict the farmers on the land. The 1,500-tumolo area, known as il-Qortin and overlooking the bay at Fomm ir-Rih, is a green area and development there is prohibited.
The company is once again marketing the sale of the land at Bahrija on the internet – which had been removed from the web three years ago, and now has seemingly resurfaced.
It claims on its website that permits were available for the development of fish farms, Disneyland-styled theme parks, golf courses of international standards and a five-star hotel. The website had gone offline soon after MaltaToday reported these claims.

Legal problems
The shareholders in Eliza have all had their fair share of altercations with the law.
Generoso Sammut, one of the shareholders, was arraigned in court accused of forgery, along with notary Anthony Agius, a former PN candidate from Qormi, accused of using false signatures in public acts after these had been duly registered.
Sammut had also attempted to defraud his own sister of their aunt’s inheritance by fabricating a ‘secret will’ claiming he was the sole heir of Concetta Sammut’s wealth. According to police investigations however, Concetta Sammut’s signature on the secret will had not been genuine, with the courts finding the will was not authentic.
Sammut has also been found guilty of threatening Labour MP Anglu Farrugia in an anonymous phone call. Farrugia was a lawyer acting for a group of Bidnija farmers.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt