Appeals Court confirms jail sentence for adoption ring mastermind

The Court of Appeal confirmed an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years, for a 52-year-old Safi who in 2011 was found guilty of misappropriation of €6,988 given to her for adoption services.

The sentence was turned into an effective jail term, after Concetta Charles failed to pay back monies she misappropriate from Lawrence and Maria Grima,

Police investigations had proved that in June 2006, Concetta Charles had been given Lm3,000 (€6,988) by Lawrence and Maria Grima on contract, promising to bring to Malta a Pakistani girl not older that two years for adoption by the couple. The accused had given the couple a receipt claiming that the money was going to the New United Christian Foundation Home in Pakistan where the girl was being cared for.

The contract also bound Charles to refund the money within two months if the adoption fails to go through. However while the woman collected money, the girl never arrived and Charles never refunded the money.

In 2002 her husband Dennis Charles was imprisoned in Pakistan after the police raided his Karachi residence and found 11 infants aged 15 days to one year in dreadful conditions. The babies had been confined to a single room and spent all their time there. The Pakistani authorities also recovered 13 passports and fake birth certificates. Along with the husband the police also arrested his brother Derrick and mother Joyce, and four nannies. Dennis Charles was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment but was released when Concetta Charles went to Pakistan and fought for her husband's release.

The Human Rights Commission in Pakistan found that no evidence had been produced in his case.

In 2011 the Maltese courts found Concetta Charles guilty of misappropriation and sentenced her for 18 months' imprisonment suspended for two years, and ordered her to refund the money.  The accused appealed from the sentence.

On hearing the appeal, Judge Michael Mallia held that the directors of the New United Christian Foundation Home were in fact the accused and her husband so the woman had practically passed the money onto herself. The funds given to her were allegedly used for the care of the girl being adopted and legal fees, however no documents or receipts were presented showing where the money went.

Judge Mallia found the Safi woman guilty as charged and confirmed the sentence delivered by the Magistrates' Court.

Dr Noel Cutajar, appearing for the Grimas, asked the court to turn the monies owed into an effective jail term as the accused had failed to refund the sum owed. The court upheld the reuqest.

In a separate case also in 2011, Concetta Charles had had been found guilty of misappropriating Vincent and Frances Cassar of €8,153. She had promised the Cassars a girl not older than seven months who was not black, free from any chronic or serious disease, defect or medical condition, physical or mental disability and allegedly nursed at the charity she claimed to represent and certified by a medical clinic in Pakistan and a competent authority in Malta chosen by the couple.

Once more the adoption failed and the couple was only refunded €3,493 from the €11,646 paid. However in this case the accused had entered into a new contract with the couple and declared that she owed them money and outlined a payment schedule. Judge Lawrence Quintano had acquitted the accused of misappropriation stating that the issue had become a simple case of unsettled credit and should be enforced through civil means. The accused had admitted to owing the Cassars money but she landed in a difficult situation and could not pay up.