Patrick Vella

Patrick Vella (1944-10 May 2022) was a Maltese judge who was jailed in 2007 for taking bribes.[1][2][3]

Biography

Vella graduated as a lawyer in 1967, and obtained a magister juris in European Law in 1996.[4] Vella was appointed judge in February 1998, after serving as magistrate for 12 years.[4]

In 2002, Vella and then Chief Justice Noel Arrigo were arraigned and charged with accepting bribes, trading in influence and revealing official secrets, in favour of drug trafficker Mario Camilleri l-Imnieħru, whose trial they had been presiding over. The case had been revealed in a press conference by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami; the scandal made international headlines.[4]

Vella confessed to reducing the original 16-year jail sentence to 12 years in exchange for €23,000. After pleading guilty to accepting bribes he was jailed for two years. Vella had issued a public apology, declaring that he was sorry for the damage he caused to society. He was released in 2008,[4] and died in 2022.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ex-Judge jailed for two years. Claudia Calleja, Times of Malta, 14 March 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "Man Admits involvement in judges' corruption - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt.
  3. ↑ "Ex-judge in bribery case leaves jail after 16 months". Times of Malta.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Balzan, Jurgen (10 May 2022). "Former Judge Patrick Vella passes away". Newsbook.
  5. ↑ "Former judge Patrick Vella dies, aged 78". Times of Malta. 10 May 2022.


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