Disgraced notary jailed for complicity in fraud

A disgraced notary already convicted of misappropriating clients’ funds has been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of complicity in fraud. A developer who sold a penthouse that was not his was handed a suspended jail term. Pierre Falzon, 61, who voluntarily renounced his warrant in 2012, and Peter Agius, 51, from Naxxar, were convicted of deceitfully selling a Paola property that had already been used by HSBC Bank Malta plc as a guarantee against a pending loan. Falzon was found guilty of forging public documents in May 2009 and earlier  and of using a forged document. Magistrate Rachel Montebello also suspended his notarial warrant for five years and slapped him with a general interdiction. Falzon has given notice of appeal. The case concerned the sale of a property in December 2007, on which a profit of €86,186 was made to the detriment of Geot Developments Limited and Mary Violet Mifsud. Agius was found guilty of defrauding the company and of assisting Falzon in this deception. He was given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for four years. Magistrate Montebello heard that Falzon published a contract in which Agius sold a penthouse in Paola to...