Widow files judicial protest against BOV

A 77-year-old widow this morning filed a judicial protest against Bank of Valletta, the Malta Financial Services Authority and the Attorney General, claiming damages for her lost investment. Lawyer Robert Piscopo, who signed the protest, claimed that his client, housewife Eufrasia Galea lived on a widow’s pension. She had received very basic education, spoke basic English and had no training in or knowledge of the financial sector. In 2007, she sold a property she had bought with her husband before he died for some Lm30,000. She then went to the Paola BOV branch to deposit the money in a savings account or fixed deposit. But bank employees pressured her to invest in the Vilhena Funds Sicav which had just been set up. She made two deposits into the fund, the first of almost €40,000, the second of €25,000. In her protest, the woman is alleging that the bank mis-sold her this product. The woman is requesting compensation.