The story that Malta Today won't tell you about: Consuelo Herrera is undergoing investigation by the Commission for the Administration of Justice
Oops - it's a picture of Roger de Giorgio's MEPA Watch man. My mistake.
This is the story that Malta Today will never tell you about – which is almost certainly one of the reasons why Consuelo Herrera is trading favours with that newspaper.
L-Orizzont won’t tell you about it, either – because her brother is a leading light in the Labour Party and Joseph Muscat is a frequent guest at her parties.
Oh, had I forgotten to tell you? The whole St John’s Foundation/parliament debacle began when Consuelo and Robert invited Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando to a party where every guest was ultra-Labour, and the chief guest was Joseph Muscat.
They teased him about how he was going to vote on the issue, and in one of those moments of bravado that sometimes happens to us at parties, he said that he would be voting against the government on the matter.
And then he couldn’t go back on his word, because Joseph Muscat and the rest of them would hold him to it.
When I say that Consuelo plays chess games for the sheer hell of it, that’s what I mean. She loves the sense of power and control it gives her, the fat, frizzy-haired, frumpy, and rejected ugly duckling who grew up into a….vulture.
But here’s the story.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera has been undergoing investigation by the Commission for the Administration of Justice for the last year or so.
I have just had a telephone call from a very angry man who wouldn’t tell me his name. But I could tell from his voice that he lives in Gozo. He was furious because for all this time, the news that she is being investigated has been kept concealed from the public.
Nobody will touch it.
No, not even trailblazing Malta Today, which is more concerned with arguments between husbands and wives – as long as those arguments do not take the form of a false and vindictive police report filed by Roger de Giorgio’s wife’s twin against her husband, leading to his yacht being raided by armed officers in dead of night (a dream for Consuelo, but not for Edward Cassar), and to his sister-in-law receiving a criminal conviction and a suspended sentence.
Perhaps this is the place to tell Roger de Giorgo that when his brother-in-law rang me, several times, to tell me what his wife was doing to him and would I write about it, I let him down as politely as possible.
I hate those sorts of things, but more to the point, Roger has been a guest in our house, we have been a guest in theirs, and two years ago, we were guests at his wife’s 50th birthday party, and I have never had any problems with her at all.
This is what I told Edward Cassar. But apparently Roger de Giorgio, who sits in on every editorial meeting at Malta Today, sees things differently. Owning and running that newspaper has made him an indecent man. Either that, or it has brought out his latent indecency. At this stage, I can’t be bothered to find out.
Back to the man from Gozo. I knew that he was telling the truth. When you do the job I do, you gets lots of anonymous phone calls and letters from people who want to shop other people out of malice, and you learn to tell the difference between those who are lying and those who are not.
I could hear him waving a sheaf of documents around, which he’s going to post to me (unless Consuelo’s friends get to my mailbox first).
Apparently, the magistrate is associated in building development in Gozo and elsewhere with the same lawyer she was involved with in that Lija block of flats, the one where she used her husband’s money to build while shagging his architect.
She was reported to the Commission for the Administration of Justice for allegedly using her powers as a magistrate to favour this lawyer in respect of certain advantageous property deals. Bear in mind that this is only a report and an accusation. It is still being investigated.
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Frankly, I’m baffled. How can a magistrate with such serious accusations be allowed to still sit on the magistrate’s bench, and hear everyday cases?
Although I note that the case is still under investigation, I think that when there are such serious accusations, the Commission has to speed up its process, and deliver a preliminary decision, and that is allowing or not allowing the magistrate to proceed with her work.
I shudder to think what conflict of interest there might have been, and it is very bad to allow a magistrate with such accusations to proceed with her work.
@ A Zammit. “How can a magistrate with such serious accusations be allowed to still sit on the magistrate’s bench” I guess the same way politicians with multiple accusations of wrong-doing never end up being investigated.
Daphne,
I suggest we put a sound track to this saga. I propose the following, however I am open for any other suggestion.
Please see link below (Proposed Sound Track)
I LIKE THEM BIG AND CHUNKY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scv55gN_mJ8&feature=related
I prefer this one;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ImZTwYwCug
The Commission is toothless. Both Mr.Justice Farrugia Sacco and Magistrate Mizzi have repeatedly told it to fuck off – and that is what it has had to do – or at least, that is what it has done.
[Daphne – An unfortunate choice of verb, John, given the magistrate in question.]
Well, he’s no longer in the Commission, is he?
Well, he’s no longer in the Commission, is he?
Why should the investigation take so long? It can’t be all that difficult to find out whatever needs to be found out.
From the timesofmalta.com:
Today, 20:17
The Speaker of the House, Louis Galea, is expected to be Malta’s nominee for the European Court of Auditors, informed sources said this evening. He will be succeeding Prof Josef Bonnici. The… »
So this will leave Robert -Mayor of Siggiewi – Musumeci with a clear field for a parliamentary seat and ministerial aspirations (how about putting him in charge of the MEPA reform -he knows all about it : ins, outs, tricks). What is Lawrence Gonzi going to do with a prospective MP and aspiring Minister who left his pregnant wife to shag a magistrate who can’t keep her hands off any male within 100 metres (especially if wearing a police uniform) .
As for the magistrate, the Commisiion for the Administration of Justice should put this shoddy and sordid affair on the agenda for their next meeting pronto.
There is also a good chance for Dr Micallef from Zebbug – he is a young doctor and as far as I know, with no hidden skeletons in the cupboard or agendas. Having a good private practice in Qormi, might see him through as opposed to Musumeci.
The biggest problem with Robert Musumeci is not that he is an adulterer, but that he is sleeping (literally) with the enemy.
It is very interesting to note that Il-Perit Musumeci has been appointed as a court expert by Magistrate Scerri Herrera on various occasions.
These include :
The Mafia Style killing of a car dealer in Birkirara 25/4/2008
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080425/local/car-dealer-shot-dead
Suspected Drug Overdose Birkirkara
http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=49149
and the plot thickens…mhux ta’ b’xejn…
Am I correct in saying that there is no way that Consie could lose her job, whatever she’s accused of, as it needs 2/3 of parliament to vote for her dismissal?
[Daphne – Yes. That’s why she acts with impunity.]
Daphne … much as I do admire you … you do realise that this will get you into a lot of trouble, don’t you. I mean … a LOT of trouble. And I’m not even referring to court proceedings.
[Daphne – Yes, I know. So what’s new.]
I’m back, Daphne. I see the plot is thickening. And what would you be referring to, David?
Amazingly when I wrote up Consuelo this news item came up …a few Googles later the same item
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2002/0407/report070402.html
Any insight into this case, Daphne?
[Daphne – It was before my time. What can I say? She’s her father’s daughter, but at least he kept his pants on.]
The sopranos in Malta
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/resources/pdf/03_03.pdf
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/resources/pdf/24_02.pdf
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/23748460/report190502
However, in a ridiculous legal twist in May 1991, during the compilation of evidence, Magistrate Carol Peralta declared
that although in some of the cases there was enough evidence to issue the accused with a bill of indictment, none
of the cases could be prosecuted because they were proscribed by law.
My point is … is it worth the hassle? Anyway good luck and may God be with you.
[Daphne – Oh yes, definitely. You only live once.]
I’m sure Daphne can take care of herself, God or no God.
This is probably the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately.
Consuelo is a damn good magistate. I dont know why her private life should be aired in such a spiteful and distasteful manner. she deserves more respect. after all she is entitled to a life, besides being a magistrate.
[Daphne – She deserves more respect? You jest.]
(Regarding people in positions of authority in general ) Surely one’s private life should be such that it MAINTAINS the respect that one’s profession commands? One cannot simply draw a line between the two.
Imagine, for example (and the example I give is purely hypothetical) that a well-known criminal lawyer parties with well-known criminals, simply because she thinks that her professional life and her private life are two separate entities altogether. Things don’t work that way, Louise Anne. You can’t have your cake and eat it, you know.
I do not see the relevance of the description “the fat, frizzy-haired, frumpy, and rejected ugly duckling who grew up into a….vulture”. How any public official behaves privately is his or her business PROVIDED THAT his or her behaviour does not affect the way he or she discharges his or her public duties. I am unfamiliar with the case and will refrain from commenting. Furthermore, not everyone can be as ‘beautiful’ as DCG. But why is it almost always the case that Labour politicians are time and again the butt of DCG’s jokes?
[Daphne – If by your own admission you are unfamiliar with the case and with the issues here, then don’t comment at all. You have clearly not picked up on the fact that Robert Musumeci is a Nationalist politician, and not Labour.]
Is there nothing good with the LP? Why this venom? Why does not DCG get a life for herself and a real job?
[Daphne – Again, you know nothing all the way down under in Australia. I have not one ‘job’ but many. In fact, I run a thriving business. It’s just that, unlike people who come out of nowhere and who don’t come from a business background, I don’t call myself a ‘businesswoman’ because I have a clothes shop and then run the Labour Party’s business forum and tell captains of industry what to do on the basis of my experience selling skirts and baby equipment from a hole in the wall.]
Let me go on record to say that I, too, have attended some steamy parties! My only regret is that at age 62, I find them terribly boring.
[Daphne – You’re not a magistrate, Joseph, so nobody cares.]