Prime Minister files court case to recoup Gaffarena lands

The Prime Minister has today filed a court case against Marco Gaffarena and his wife Josielle to recoup the lands transferred to the couple in the expropriation of a palazzo in Old Mint Street, Valletta.

The court was asked to revoke all transfers made in terms of two expropriation contracts. It was also asked to order the Gaffarenas to return all assets to government. Last year, government paid €1.65 million for part ownership of the Valletta property that Gaffarena had bought for a fraction of the price just weeks earlier.

The court was also asked to issue a warrant of seizure equivalent to the funds already paid to the Gaffarenas and a warrant to stop the Gaffarenas from transferring properties handed to them by the government. 

He made a profit of €685,000 in less than two months, apart from acquiring parcels of land in exchange equivalent to the size of more than 10 football pitches.

The prime minister's court application follows the resignation of parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon which a Auditor General report said did not safeguard public interest in the expropriation deals.