Appeals Court reinstates suspended sentence for adoption ring mastermind

An Appeals Court judge has reinstated a suspended sentence for the mastermind behind an adoption ring, after she paid back monies she owed a defrauded couple.

Concetta Charles, whose 18-month suspended sentence was turned into prison time after failing to refund money she owed, was released from arrest after paying the money back.

Judge Michael Mallia held that since the money was paid the woman could be release from arrest, and the suspended sentence reinstated.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday confirmed the 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.

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.