Patrick Spiteri objecting to four European arrest warrants

The disbarred lawyer Patrick Spiteri has been presented with another four European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) – three by Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona and the fourth by Magistrate Carol Peralta – as he faces repeated calls to be brought to justice in Malta over fraud allegations.

Spiteri, who lives in the UK, has faced a spate of court cases relating to defrauding clients whom he served as a tax advisor. Last Wednesday he was presented with the four other EAWs, bringing the total of arrest warrants to seven.

Spiteri, 50, is certified to be suffering from a type of sclerosis and has presented medical certificates stating that he is seriously sick and unable to travel. Last Wednesday the British court deliberated over the seven arrest warrants and put off the case from 17 February to 23 April, 2015.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Spiteri insisted that he had done his best to be present for court cases in Malta. He has denied keeping his Farnham address in the UK a secret, after he was arrested there by Surrey police after being alerted to his whereabouts by The Sunday Times.

“It is untrue that the Maltese police did not know where I lived. My address in the UK is on the numerous medical certificates that have been sent to the Maltese courts. In fact the British police received the warrants without an address.”

Spiteri, the architect of the infamous CET that the 1996 Labour administration used to replace Value Added Tax, is insisting that the medical consultants who confirmed his multiple sclerosis were contacted by the Maltese police to verify that he had not tampered

with his medical certificates.
“I objected to the extradition request and I gave four reasons for this. The first is health, the second was the passage of time, the third was the right to a fair trial and the fourth were extraneous circumstances caused by media reports and [former MEP] Tom Spencer –

the stepfather of my partner.” Asked why he had evaded the police, Spiteri angrily rebutted the claims: “I never evaded the police. They knew exactly where I lived.

They only executed the notice of the arrest warrant. And it is not true that I was hiding, that is a lie.”

Spiteri claimed he will be taking legal steps in a British court against The Times and his partner’s stepfather Tom Spencer, whom he suspects of having assisted the newspaper in locating him. “I am no ex-Mossad agent, as stated by Spencer.”

He is even denying having been had any chats on dating website match.com, where he appeared as ‘Patrick Borgia’, and which were used by The Times to track him down. “I deny categorically that I had any chats... I will be seeking all legal remedies against the person who hacked me and made this up.”

Spiteri has claimed he has no problem facing the courts in Malta, but says his medical condition is serious. “One case has been postponed sine die and other cases have been deferred over and over again because the witnesses that have been called are based abroad and have not turned up. I have been unable to travel since December 2013.”

The 50-year-old former tax law guru has been living permanently in the UK since January 2014 in a €4 million country estate set over 15 acres of land, evading the Maltese courts where he is facing eight cases linked to fraud and misappropriation charges exceeding €10 million. He formerly lived in Malta with his partner Lorna Maltby and their four children.

After his arrest by UK police in November, Spiteri appeared before the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London where he was granted bail against a security deposit of £70,000 and a strict 11pm to 4am curfew. He was also obligated to sign daily at the Guilford Police Station between 9am and 11am.

These conditions were later changed so that the curfew takes place between 1am and 6am and signing at the police station is possible between 8am and 1pm.