The government refuses to say how many fraudulent residence permits issued by Identity Malta to Libyan citizens were revoked.
The Times of Malta reported yesterday that Identity Malta was sending letters to Libyan citizens revoking illegal residence permits and giving them deadlines to leave the country.
Asked to declare how many such permits had been revoked so far, both the Ministry for Home Affairs and Identity Malta refused to give any numbers.
Identity Malta noted yesterday that the granting of illegal permits was not its own sole doing because the exercise was done in conjunction with other authorities.
“All residence permits are issued following consultations with other local authorities and [the procedure] includes clearance from the immigration police insofar as vetting of the applicants’ personal details is concerned,” an Identity Malta spokeswoman said.
When asked about the number of revoked permits by yesterday, the spokeswoman replied: “As has been the case recently, where the court ruled that permits were obtained through misleading information or fraudulent documentation, permits are revoked immediately.”
“The Department of Citizenship and Expatriates also keeps the police informed of all residence permits the department revokes when the conditions upon which the residence permit was issued are no longer adhered to or the purpose of stay of the relative permit no longer subsists,” she added.
Last year, Malta issued a record 3,500 residence permits to Libyan citizens, up 444 per cent over 2012.
When former Labour treasurer Joe Sammut was taken to court and charged with registering about 800 false companies in order to circumvent rules and obtain residence permits for Libyan shareholders and their families, the government admitted there was an ongoing racket in the issue of residence permits.
A number of low level Identity Malta officials appeared in court and faced embezzlement charges following raids by the police at the entity’s offices and the arrest of some staff members. It is known that a number of senior officials at Identity Malta were being investigated too but, so far, none have been arraigned.
Police sources told the Times of Malta more Identity Malta employees were interrogated over the past days and arraignments were expected.
The Opposition has called for an independent inquiry into the alleged abuse at Identity Malta. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, however, insists the police should complete their investigations before any inquiry was launched.