Four Identity Malta employees and a go-between were arraigned in court this morning on extortion charges related to facilitating the production of residence permits.

The four employees, all in their early twenties, appeared before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli charged with corruption, extortion, of having accepted gifts or money in exchange for issuing residence permits and of being an accomplice in issuing false declarations.

The go-between, a 28-year-old who works as a monti hawker, was charged with corrupting public officials, of accepting "an unsuitable offer or promise" in order to exert influence and of being an accomplice in issuing false declarations.

Three of the employees - a 21-year-old male from St Julian's, a 24-year-old female from Pembroke and a 21-year-old female from Pembroke - pleaded guilty to the charges.

Prosecuting officers Rennie Stivala and Yvonne Farrugia said that the accused persons fully cooperated with the police, gave a detailed statement outlining the extent of their involvement and promised to cooperate with the the police in further investigations involving third parties.

The extent of the 21-year-old female's involvement was described as being of "medium" in nature, while that of the other two was deemed as minimal.

The court handed down a two-year sentence suspended to four years.

A 21-year-old employee from Hamrun pleaded not guilty to the same charges as his colleagues and was granted bail against an €800 deposit and a personal guarantee of €3,000.

The go-between from Baħar ic-Caghaq also pleaded not guilty and was granted bail.

The crimes were committed between January and August this year.

No names are being published in view of the fact that the court decided to ban publication of two of them.

Defence lawyers were Maria Azzopardi, Joseph Gatt, David Camilleri, Kathleen Grima, Franco Debono and Roberto Montalto.

AGENCY CAUGHT IN SCANDAL OF INSTITUTIONALISED CORRUPTION - BEPPE FENECH ADAMI

Addressing a press conference this afternoon, PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said it was evident that Identity Malta was caught up in a scandal of institutionalised corruption.

The agency, he said, was set up after the Labour Party took office to replace a number of government departments which had been competent for many years and was the Prime Minister’s baby.

The agency was filled up with people close to the Labour government including its head, Joe Vella Bonnici and numerous party candidates and councillors. The party used the agency to give jobs to people that were close to it.

He strongly criticised the Department of Information for a statement it issued this morning saying it had misinformed and been dishonest when it said that the investigations had been going on for years.

Not only were the people involved aged between 21 and 24, the charges were for crimes allegedly committed between January and June this year. The DOI’s, he said, was a weak and obscene attempt to give the impression that the people arraigned today had been implicated in corruption that had been going on for years.

He questioned what was forcing the government to keep defending those who manifestly let it down.

Spokesman Francis Zammit Dimech condemned the DOI and described it as a “Department of Misinformation and Propaganda”.

He said he was worried about the country’s reputation and said that the successive scandals that were taking place were staining the country in a very serious way.

One had to see, he said, why were the systems burdened with institutionalised corruption and what could be done to clean them up from within.