A building contractor who fraudulently pocketed property deposits has been jailed for 4 years and ordered to refund Lm75,000 (€175,000) to two businessmen he defrauded in 2006.
Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla had told a court how 60 year-old Antonio Vassallo had received an offer from two partners in a construction company over a property in Hamrun near Mile End, but the deal had not gone through after the purchasers lost interest following some complications.
But Vassallo had then offered them another property, consisting of a house and two shops, in Sliema. A promise of sale was signed and a deposit of Lm25,000 (€58,000) was paid.
While awaiting the issue of a development permit, the two businessmen were encouraged to enter into another promise of sale on a plot of land at Benghajsa by the accused. Another Lm35,000 (€81,000) had been paid as a deposit on that deal.
The businessmen had later discovered that the land they had “bought” was, in fact, subject to expropriation by the State.
Fortunately, they managed to get their money back from that deal, but weren’t quite so lucky in a second deal brokered by Vassallo.
That time Vassallo had offered the men a plot of land at Birzebbugia, near an area known as ‘tal-gas’, and had persuaded them to pay a Lm75,000 (€175,000) deposit on the property.
But again, the transfer of property never took place, lacking even a promise of sale agreement. Vassallo had, instead, come up with a wide selection of excuses for the delay, which included ongoing notarial searches on the property or that one of the sellers was at Mount Carmel.
The two businessmen soon understood that they had been fooled and had sought legal advice, before filing a criminal complaint against Vassallo.
Vassallo denied swindling the men and had pleaded not guilty to related charges.
After being assigned the case in 2013, magistrate Ian Farrugia observed that there had been a lot of time wasting up to that point. Having seen the evidence, the court said that the way the accused acted and intervened in the complainants’ business, indicated “a planned and convincing deception” aimed at getting the victims to part with their money.
The court also noted the man’s long criminal record, commenting that it showed the man’s character. Finding Vassallo guilty of fraud, the court sentenced him to a 4-year prison sentence and ordered him to refund the Lm75,000 (€175,000).
