Rita Schembri case - Man acquitted of blackmail, convicted of defamation

A man accused of blackmailing Rita Schembri, the permanent secretary at the Internal Audit and Investigation Department, was acquitted by a court this morning. Joseph Borg, from Swieqi, was however convicted of defamation and sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for three years. He had been accused of sending a defamatory e-mail in which he allegedly attempted to blackmail Ms Schembri. Ms Schembri vacated her post temporarily pending an investigation that is being held at her request following allegations that she used her government office to conduct private business. The court heard that Mr Borg  sent an e-mail to Ms Schembri threatening her that unless she did as he said, he would be passing on to the authorities information he had about her. The defence argued that Mr Borg had ended up being accused of a crime because he had asked Ms Schembri to refund money she owed two people. See also http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121129/local/borg-gave-rita-schembri-24-hours-to-redeem-herself.447425 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130117/local/-schembri.453542