All the residence permits issued on the back of incorrect information allegedly furnished by accountant Joe Sammut would be revoked, Identity Malta head Joe Vella Bonnici told the Times of Malta.
“All permits obtained through false documentation or misinformation will be withdrawn. Action will then be taken in line with the outcome of police investigations and court decisions,” he said.
Reacting to criticism that the government agency, responsible for issuing the permits, had remained “eerily silent” on the alleged residency fraud scam, Mr Vella Bonnici said it was Identity Malta, together with other local authorities, that had asked the police to investigate the matter in the first place. The scam was thrust into the national spotlight after Mr Sammut, a former Labour Party treasurer, was arraigned last week and charged with fraud, misappropriation, non-observance of due diligence and forgery.
Action will be taken in line with the outcome of police investigations
It is being alleged that about 800 Libyan nationals set up companies in Malta with fake stock of about €100,000 each – the amount needed to be eligible for a residence permit.
Mr Vella Bonnici told the Times of Malta the agency was sifting through its databases to highlight any new cases.
He would not say, however, how many fraudulent permits had been discovered so far and would not confirm the 800 figure.
Applying for a residence permit under false pretences is illegal in terms of the Immigration Act, and those found guilty could spend up to three months in prison.
Identify Malta and the Home Affairs Ministry would not give a breakdown of how many permits have been issued so far this year nor say what nationalities were those granted a permit. When asked for a breakdown, the government said the information would be uploaded on the Eurostat website “in the coming days”. The information had not yet been published by the time of writing.
Mr Vella Bonnici himself did not reply to a number of questions, including whether or not he had been in touch with any EU institutions about the wider implications of the alleged scam.
He did, however, draw a distinction between the number of applications received and the number of residence permits approved, which, he said, were “a small fraction of the former”.
He also emphasised that, while Identity Malta was ultimately responsible for issuing the permits, several other institutions were also involved.
“Applications are processed by the ETC, the police immigration office and other authorities. Identity Malta issues residence permits based on the recommendations received by these other departments,” he said.
He added that Identity Malta had already refused a significant number of applications that contained unreliable information. Again, a breakdown was not provided.