Joseph Muscat
Two people accused
in connection with the Vitals inquiry have resigned their respective
directorships within the companies which run the Convenience Shop retail chain
and the new Shoreline Mall.
Lawyer Kevin Deguara resigned from his position as Director and member of the Audit Committee from Convenience Shop (Holding) PLC and from his position as Director of Shoreline Mall P.L.C., while fellow lawyer Jean Carl Farrugia resigned from his position as Director of Shoreline Mall P.L.C. as well.
The announcements
were made by both companies through the Malta Stock Exchange, as they are bound
to do so by the Malta Financial Services Authority’s Capital Markets Rules.
Deguara and
Farrugia were both charged with having participated in a criminal activity and
criminal association, and document fraud, including documents related to
VAT.
They pleaded not
guilty in an 11-hour court sitting last Wednesday which will likely have to be
repeated after a prosecution blunder rendered it null.
Neither the
Convenience Shop nor Shoreline made any reference to the court charges that
their now former directors were facing. Convenience Shop in fact
said that Deguara’s resignation was “for personal reasons.”
“There are no
matters which require disclosure in terms of the Capital Markets Rules
concerning the above resignations,” Shoreline said in its company announcement.
The resignations
took effect from 30 May in the case of Shoreline and 31 May in the case of
Convenience Shop – after the duo had appeared in court for the first time.
Neither company was
named in the Vitals inquiry, and neither of them are facing any charges or
freezing orders associated with it.
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