Councillors from Sliema and St Julians local councils have been arrested and questioned over alleged fraud, bribery and misappropriation of council funds in yet another investigation launched by the police Fraud Squad.
Sources close to the investigation said former Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech and councillors Martin DeBono and Yves Bobby Calì together with St Julians councillor Raymond Cachia were arrested, most of them following council meetings on Thursday evening.
It is known that some of them were held for further questioning and were still under arrest at the time of writing. St Julians mayor Peter Bonello was not among those arrested or questioned.
The sources said the police had also called in for questioning a number of contractors and people who provided services to the Sliema council over the past months.
Other councillors and council employees were also questioned, the sources said.
Police investigations revolve around a number of issues, some more serious than others. One particular investigation involves contracts awarded by the Sliema council, which are deemed to have been irregular. Another less serious allegation is that two laptops bought with council funds were taken for personal use by two councillors.
The police are also looking into payments made to a waste recovery company, a service all other localities get for free.
The news comes in the wake of an investigation by the Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate into the operations of the Sliema council. The review found irregularities and shortcomings in the way the council operated both under the mayorship of Mr Dimech but also of other previous mayors. No fraud was detected.
The investigation, launched last June, began over a fairy lights contract but was eventually widened to probe other tenders after claims were made that the issue of fund mismanagement was so “big” it needed to be looked into by the IAID.
A separate police investigation into bribery allegations, which led to Mr Dimech being charged in court later, overshadowed the internal audit.
Mr Dimech is facing charges of bribery over a council contract. His accuser is being charged with assaulting Mr DeBono.