Letters have been sent to Libyan citizens revoking illegal residence permits, the Times of Malta has learnt.
“I am to inform you that the said residence permit is being withdrawn as it has now resulted that the information and documentation you have submitted is unreliable,” says one letter seen by this newspaper.
The letter, signed by Ryan Spagnol, senior manager at Identity Malta, was dated September and gave the recipient two weeks to leave the island. “Your stay in Malta beyond that date would be in violation of the provisions of the Immigration Act,” Identity Malta is advising these Libyan citizens.
This newspaper is informed that a number of other letters have since been sent in connection with the racket of fraudulent residence permits uncovered last August.
Identity Malta, the government agency responsible for issuing residence permits to non-EU citizens, was asked for figures and more information but had not replied by the time of going to print.
Official letters are also being sent to other Libyan citizens who have filed their applications but have not yet received a permit.
They advise clients that their “request cannot be acceded to as there was false information” in the submitted applications.
Sources said that many of the Libyan residents receiving such letters have refused to accept the decision and are considering appealing. Some may also take further legal action against the government.
Last August, accountant Joe Sammut, a former treasurer of the Labour Party, was charged in court with registering false commercial companies in order to acquire residence permits for the owners and their families.
Following police raids and arrests at Identity Malta, a number of employees at the government agency are facing extortion charges related to facilitating the production of such permits.
So far, the government has refused to give information on the number of permits that have turned out to be fake and how many have been revoked.
Their request cannot be acceded to as there was false information
Questions sent to the Home Affairs Ministry, responsible for Identity Malta, have not been answered.
The number of new residence permits issued to non-EU nationals in 2014 reached 13,798, more than double the figure in 2012.
The biggest proportion, nearly 3,500, were issued to Libyan residents, an increase of 444 per cent over 2012, with Russian citizens in second place at 1,493 permits.
The ministry was also asked who at Identity Malta should carry the ad-ministrative responsibility for issuing residency permits without the necessary verification of documents.
The Opposition has called for an independent inquiry and for Identity Malta chairman Joe Vella Bonnici to step down. The government has insisted that the scam was uncovered by the agency and the information passed on to the police.