Giovanna Debono husband acquittal confirmed on appeal

Former Gozo minister, Giovanna Debono’s husband, has had his acquittal from all charges linking him to a 'works-for-votes' scandal, confirmed on appeal.

In a 93-page judgement delivered by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera earlier today, the court ruled that the whistleblower who made the allegations was not credible.

The appeal was filed by the prosecution after then-magistrate Neville Camilleri had also found Debono not guilty in March. Camilleri had ruled that the testimony of contractor Joseph Cauchi was not enough to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

In her judgment on the case, Madam Justice Scerri Herrera decided that the court could not find a person guilty simply on the basis of suspicions. The prosecution’s evidence was “weak” and consisted of unfounded or unproven suspicions and mere allegations, said the court, describing Cauchi’s testimony as “neither credible nor plausible".

Neither was the whistleblower’s evidence corroborated by other witnesses who tendered evidence in court, said the judge, who suggested that criminal action should be taken against bad faith whistleblowers who were seeking financial gain. The legal status of informants should be reviewed, recommended by the judge.

"The status of the informant is very important as an instrument to ensure good governance. It places great responsibility both on those who grant such status as well as the person who receives it, and therefore it must not be abused to recover funds," the court said.

Cauchi's testimony had given his motivation, which was to obtain payment for the works he had carried out, said the court, pointing to the fact that he had gone to various people, including politicians, to recover the amounts due to him.

It was in May 2015 that Debono had been charged with 13 charges of misappropriation of public funds in excess of €5,000, fraud, falsification of documents, abuse of power and committing a crime he was duty-bound to prevent to the detriment of the government of Malta.

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He had also been accused of making a false declaration and having tried to prevent other people from giving information or evidence to the competent authorities.

The contractor had claimed that Debono, a former civil servant in the Gozo ministry, had engaged him to carry out works in private properties, which were then meant to be paid for by the Ministry of Gozo. But Cauchi said that he had never received payment for this alleged work.

Debono’s wife Giovanna had resigned from the Nationalist Party parliamentary group soon after the arraignment, saying she would defend her integrity and that of her family. She had remained in parliament as an independent politician but did not contest the 2017 general election.

Lawyer Joe Giglio was defence counsel.

PN statement 

In a statement after the judgment, the PN said it expected an immediate apology from Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Labour Party for what it termed "the campaign of character assassination against Tony and Giovanna Debono" by the Party.

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