Spouse accused of defrauding insurance money

Albert Victor Vella, 54 from Msida, who is currently unemployed, has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding his estranged wife.

Taking the witness stand in the opening of the compilation of evidence against Vella, Inspector Yvonne Farrugia explained that in 2012, lawyer Christina Grima had filed a complaint claiming that the accused had forged the signature of his former wife and withdrew an insurance cheque amounting to €2,329.37 after the policy was terminated without her consent.

In her investigations it resulted that the insurance policy had reached its maturity in July 2007 and a statement of claim was filed in January 2009.

Vella was subsequently summoned to the police depot to give a sample of his calligraphy.

The accused explained to the police that he had taken out an insurance policy with the aim of having cash money to give to his children when these got married. He said his spouse had left the matrimonial house years before, returning home between November and December of 2008 but leaving again soon after.

In January 2009 he cashed one of the policies and passed the cheque to his daughter Gail, during the preparation former her marriage the following January.

The defence asked the inspector if during the investigations it had resulted that the accused and his wife also had arguments over the matrimonial house. Lawyer Stefano Filletti demanded to know why the daughter was not investigated and charged over accepting money deriving from fraud, when only her father had been charged with this crime following a complaint of signature forgery.

The prosecution replied that the complaint was against Albert Victor Vella and the police saw no reason why to investigate and charge the daughter.

Catherine Vella took the witness stand and told the court that she had been separated from her husband Victor for 10 years but was still undergoing legal separation proceeding for the past eight years. She said that during the course of their marriage two insurance policies had been taken out with Eagle Star, with the aim of having cash when needed particularly for the marriage of their children.

She also told he court how during the separation proceedings, it had resulted that one of the insurance policies had been cashed. She had informed her lawyer that the signature on the insurance document terminating the policy was not hers.

Vella retold how police officer Maruska Debattista had called her from the police headquarters and when she went there Debattista had asked her for signature samples. Asked if one of her daughters ever mentioned receiving any money, the estranged wife claimed that the daughter had informed her that the accused had in fact given her money during her marriage preparations.

The witness reiterated that she had never signed the insurance document requesting the termination of the policy and that she suspected that the signature had been forged by her former husband. She stated that contrary to what the accused had told the police, she had not signed the document during her short return to their matrimonial home at the end of 2008. The insurance had issued the cheque in January 2009.

The wife stated that since the breakdown of their marriage, and following the separation proceedings, she had wanted that the money from the two policies to be equally split between their three children.

The defence highlighted that the insurance money had not been kept by the accused for his profit but had been given to the intended recipient that is their daughter for her marriage expenses.

The defence also argued that whilst the insurance policy was indeed issued after the couple's marriage and that the accused needed the signature of his wife to terminate the policy, the insurance would only entitle the cheque to the accused as he was the policy bearer. Furthermore the accused was aware that he could never cash the cheque himself as his bank account was at the time frozen due to the separation proceedings.

Inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted while lawyers Stefano Filletti and Jennifer Shaw are appearing as defence. Lawyer Christina Grima is appearing as parte civile.