The police have filed charges against 31 people over the €10 million VAT scam.

The list of names shows that a number of businessmen have been implicated in the case that has rattled one of the government's biggest revenue-generating departments.

The man that police believe to be the mastermind, 37-year-old Noel Abela, from Dingli, a department employee, tops the list.

He allegedly admitted to police officers under interrogation that he had pocketed more than €180,000 from a relatively small scam he had started out with.

As more people became involved, the amount defrauded eventually grew to an estimated €10 million.

Mr Abela, along with another five department employees, will be facing charges that include organised criminality and bribery, fraud and even, in some cases, money laundering, as will five alleged middlemen. The rest - 20 businessmen - will mostly face bribery charges.

Those found guilty of arranging the scam face a maximum of 10 years in prison.

The Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement that, with yesterday's action, the government had shown clearly that it would not tolerate abuse.

"It is also a message that the government takes seriously reports it receives," Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said, while pointing out that so far only the police investigations had been concluded and one would have to wait for the court's decision.

The Labour Party insisted that someone should shoulder political responsibility for the scam, adding that the Prime Minister had a duty to see that this took place.

Only in this way could the government be taken seriously when it said it treated reports of abuse seriously.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has said he would like to see the completion of an internal audit before taking a decision on the question of responsibility of department officials.

According to police sources, the scam initially entailed taking bribes for waiving fines on late VAT returns, with a department official, a businessman and two middlemen being involved.

Many people were unaware that because the fines on late VAT returns are draconian, it was the government's policy to waive them anyway when a business fell in line.

Eventually, other department officials started to waive money owed by businesses. In some cases, they would even arrange matters so that instead of owing money to the department, the companies were falsely owed money by it, the police believe.

The police raided the department on April 3 following three months of investigations that were triggered by a businessman who brought the scam to the attention of Finance Minister Tonio Fenech. He in turn alerted the police.

The list of people charged

VAT department employees
• Nigel John Abela, Dingli.
• Ruth Gatt, Mosta.
• Carmel Deguara, Marsascala.
• Liliana Galea, Marsascala.
• Emanuel Hili, Qormi.
• Carmelo Caruana, Birkirkara.

Alleged middlemen
• Saviour Micallef, Siggiewi.
• Herman Sant, St Paul's Bay.
•Alfred Mallia, St Paul's Bay.
• Jesmond Abela, Gżira.
• Carmel Sammut, Mosta.

Businessmen
• Brian Zammit, Naxxar.
• Keith Stagno Navarro, Sliema.
• Roque Polidano, Żurrieq.
• Munther Ananbeh, Msida.
• Alexander Scudamore, Sliema.
• Anthony Muscat, San Ġwann.
• Emanuel Farrugia, Victoria.
• Maria Borg, Msida.
• Mark Anthony Camilleri, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.
• Giuzeppe Vella, Naxxar.
• Keith Attard Portughes, Swieqi.
• Neville Mula, Għargħur.
• Pawlu Grech, Naxxar.
• Sebastian Bonnici, Qormi.
• Gregory Paul Brincat, Madliena.
• Stephen Buhagiar, Msida.
• Adrian Debono, Sliema.
• Maurice Agius, Swieqi.
• Ludwig Camilleri, Swieqi.
• Anthony Migneco, Attard.

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