Jul 04 - Judge: Marraches Showed “Complete Lack Of Remorse”
There were strong, uncompromising words from Judge Sir Geoffrey Grigson earlier this afternoon as he sentenced the three Marrache brothers to lengthy prison terms after having been found guilty of a multi-million pound fraud.
He said that what the brothers had done amounted to a “gross breach of trust” and that they had at every stage attempted to delay criminal proceedings against them. Sir Geoffrey said that this indicated a “complete lack of remorse” and an “unscrupulous desire to avoid accepting responsibilities” for their actions.
Dismissing the notion that large-scale fraud of this nature was a victimless crime, or one only affecting the rich, Judge Grigson said: “You may have deprived millionaires of millions, but ordinary citizens have suffered as well.”
In response to the numerous character witnesses called on behalf of the defendants during a protracted and often emotional mitigation hearing this morning, many of whom stressed the suffering and hardship endured by the brothers since the firm collapsed and they were arrested, Sir Geoffrey said: “I have nothing but sympathy for your families, they will suffer, but you yourselves are the authors of that suffering.”
Addressing Benjamin Marrache first, Judge Grigson called him a “central figure” in both conspiracies. He said that he had been “surprised” to have heard him described as “humble” because all he had seen in court was his “arrogance”. Asking the defendant not to stand, the judge sentenced him to eight years imprisonment on count one and three years imprisonment on count two to be served consecutively. The total time to be served is therefore 11 years.
Moving on to Solomon Marrache, Sir Geoffrey said that the 52-year old was Benjamin’s “loyal assistant” who was in charge of accounts at the collapsed law firm and therefore “knew exactly what was going on.” He was given a seven year sentence for count one and a two year sentence for count two. However, after taking into account what the judge termed his “secondary role”, he ordered that these terms be served concurrently.
Finally, Sir Geoffrey sentenced Isaac Marrache to a total of seven years on the first count. Isaac Marrache had been found not guilty of the second charge on Wednesday. Sir Geoffrey said: “You could have stopped this fraud. You did not. You benefited from it, and when things became difficult you joined in the various deceptions perpetrated by your brothers.”
This sentencing brings to a close Gibraltar’s longest ever criminal trial.
