The number of Libyans and Russians obtaining residence permits ballooned over the past two years, figures seen by the Times of Malta show.

As the police and the security service yesterday widened their investigation into the fraudulent issue of residence permits, statistics show that, compared to 2012, the number of Libyan citizens granted a residence permit shot up by 444 per cent last year.

Although in smaller numbers, the number of Russians granted a permit to live in Malta last year also shot up, by 204 per cent in 2014 when compared to 2012.

Police sources told the Times of Malta that apart from three employees at Identity Malta, a government agency, a number of individuals unconnected to the government were also arrested in connection with the probe into possible fraud.

The sources said more arrests at Identity Malta were not being excluded as the police widened their investigation into what was believed to be a racket. Even Libyan citizens were understood to be directly involved in this lucrative business, the sources added.

On Wednesday, the government said the police had made various arrests after uncovering a scam connected to the issue of residence permits by Identity Malta.

The floodgates are open and getting a visa or a residence permit is quite easy if you have money

According to the Prime Minister, this had been going on for at least five years.

Figures show that the number of non-EU nationals, including Serbs, Ukrainians and Filipinos, obtaining residence permits over the past two years increased significantly. The top two rungs are occupied by Libyans and Russians.

Asked to explain why the number of residence permits, particularly to Libyans and Russians, ballooned since Labour was returned to power in 2013, the Office of the Prime Minister had not replied by the time of writing.

Designed by Allied Newspapers Studio.Designed by Allied Newspapers Studio.

Many Libyans that formed part of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and had a lot of money were coming to Malta, he insisted.

“The Maltese government has been warned about this but nothing has happened,” he said.

A Libyan woman married to a Maltese claimed to know someone who got a residence permit in less than 48 hours. “Until some time ago, Libyan websites were advertising that a residence permit in Malta will cost you €5,000.”

Eurostat figures show that, in 2014, the majority of Libyans got their residence permit to study in Malta. This was followed by ‘family reasons’.

With regard to Russian nationals, ‘family’ was the reason for the majority of them seeking a residence permits, followed by education. In the case of both nationalities, work featured at the bottom of thelist of whey they were applying for a residence permit.

The issue of ‘abusive’ residence permits came to light a few weeks ago when a former treasurer of the Labour Party, Joe Sammut, was arraigned and charged with registering false trading companies to obtain residence permits for Libyan nationals.

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