Paying a bribe is as bad as taking it
You know, what really gets me about this society is the way people bang on with faux horror about those who take bribes for contracts, while conveniently forgetting that it is equally condemnable to pay that bribe.
Some of those who shout loudest are not averse to paying the odd bribe themselves if they imagine it will get them what they want. They shout only when others get it instead.
They are so ready and willing to pay bribes if they think it will get them a contract that they end up screwed over by any old out-of-work scumbag pretending to be a minister’s assistant’s go-between.
This one apparently touched a bunch of businessmen for €755,000.
Who are they? I think we should be told.
timesofmalta.com, this afternoon:
A 45-year-old unemployed man from Msida was charged in court today with having conned a number of businesses out of €755,000 after allegedly promising them lucrative contracts with SmartCity.
Joseph Friggieri, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He is alleged to have acted as a middleman, falsely claming to have good contacts within the Infrastructure Ministry through which he could secure contracts for SmartCity. At one time, the man is alleged to have booked ‘a whole hotel’ for a visit by Chinese officials who never turned up, according to sources.
Police inspector Ian Abdilla told the court that there is discrepancy between what the accused said the amount is and what the alleged victims are claiming. He said that they corroborated each other in a police statement except on the amount.
This varied between 200,000 euros and 755,000 euros.
Allegedly, Mr Friggieri also conned an insurance company and three other businesses.
In July, Mr Friggieri was also accused of having defrauded two businessmen out of €55,000 by promising them contracts after posing as a friend of Emanuel Delia, the head of the secretariat within the IT Ministry.
The accused allegedly told them that he could pull some strings so that they would be awarded tenders for the Smart City project.
The accused had already been convicted on previous charges of fraud. He has been granted bail.
25 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
This story is strange, to say the least.
I cannot understand how, in a country the size of a large European village, someone who has been a notorious and convicted professional conman and fraudster for the best part of twenty years can still be accused of conning and defrauding people.
Unless the alleged victims are completely mad, they must be accomplices. They only turned victims when things went wrong.
Say it to the marines.
Those ‘businesses’ who paid the bribe will convince us that what they thought of as ‘finders’ fees’ turned out to be a scam.
Finders’ fees are legal, bribes are not, so they have a loophole which, no doubt they will use and still try to portray themselves as victims.
My definition of corruption:
When your competitior manages to acquire something, and you haven’t, that’s corruption.
When you manage to acquire something, that’s business.
What it shows is also that there are people who still feel that they need to pay their way to ‘success’ and believe people who claim they are ‘friends of Manuel Delia’ (or anybody else)… it may also mean that they either know others who are favoured because they bought their way to success. The ‘weghdi’ and ‘pjaciri’ culture is stil going strong.
Who will be charging those two businessmen for trying to gain unfair advantage on others by corrupting this Friggieri?
The fact that this Friggieri is a conman is besides the point methinks.
A perfect example of inverted logic
It implies that if one doesn’t have the contacts then he shouldn’t take bribes.
Logically the inverse is also true.
Who are these ‘businessmen’ ?
P. T. Barnum was quoted as saying that there’s a sucker born every minute. He is also supposed to have said that money is a terrible master, but an excellent servant.
Apparently, the Maltese haven’t figured that out yet.
Figures.
Nobody can deny that he is nothing but a conman. On the other hand, we must not give the impression that these things only happen in Malta.
They happen all over the world, and they will keep on happening (even in China where they impose the death penalty on case of corruption).
No, it’s not only “the Maltese who haven’t figured that out yet”.
We must not be to quick in condemning the businessmen, without first knowing the circumstances. Sometimes one has to use unetichal methods to survive.
I accept that this might not sound right, but the world is what it is and they have to survive.
I understand fully.
Point taken, Silvio. I have witnessed corruption in other countries.
However, never to the refined heights of some of the locals. Even down to the meter reader, turning back the meter for a few lira.
Also, one should not have to resort to ‘unetichal’ methods in order to ‘surrvive’.
“What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin?”.
Names of “businessmen” quoted by DI-VE.
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=86489
Not familiar names at all. Or maybe they were front men for other businessmen?
I read somewhere that Mr. Friggieri is unwell.
I agree the businessmen who paid bribes should be made public. They should also have the money given to charity and not returned.
I think he should keep some of the money for effort and creativity + and the businessmen should be blacklisted.
I can’t understand how people are so naive.
so you’re all shockedbecuase there’s corruption in this country?!
for anyone who knows how the modern sicilian mafia operates, knows that this country runs as such!
My thoughts exactly…..but I wonder…..do they know something that we don’t?
I would have thought that they couldn’t report this to the police without incriminating themselves.
Is there such an offence as criminal stupidity?
Do I understand this correctly?
Are the ‘businesses’ suing the conman for not actually passing on their bribe money to the government officials and keeping it himself instead?
It seems to me they are suing him for not committing the crime he was meant to commit – or something like that. I am left somewhat confused.
The ‘businessmen’ , if found guilty, should be named and shamed and criminal charges instituted against them.
These are usually sorts who pose as upright citizens and cry foul at every turn, especially were politicians are concerned.
If contemplated by law they should be sent to prison or given the stiffest sentence possible.
The media, if serious about its views on corruption, should give full and sustained coverage to this and similar cases. Their crime is many times more serious than that of the confidence trickster who probably needs psychological help.
It seems that greed is the root of all evil. How many have fallen for the Nigerian scam or winning the lottery jackpot scam without even having bought a ticket for that lottery.
Was it W C Fields who said “Never give a sucker an even break” ?
Can the police name the so-called businessmen?
Fuck u bitch. I hope u get cancer.
Your medication’s wearing off