The police will be seeking the Attorney General’s advice to see whether to arraign a Libyan national who accused a government official of bribery in relation to the issue of medical visas, this newspaper has learnt.

In the meantime, the government has tightened the grip on medical visas and the number of permits being issued to Libyan citizens has dropped significantly following the Libyan man’s claims.

According to a spokesman for Identity Malta, 518 medical visas were issued to Libyan citizens between February and September of last year, the number falling to just 46 in the following 10 months.

The police said on Tuesday that, so far, it did not have sufficient evidence to charge Neville Gafà, who had been recruited by the Office of the Prime Minister on a position of trust basis, on the basis of the claims made by the owner of Aurum Tribus Limited, Khaled Ben Nasan.

The claims were made in a letter he sent to former health minister Konrad Minister through his lawyer, Leslie Cuschier.

It was alleged in the letter that Mr Gafà, who was serving as representative of the Office of the Prime Minister at the Health Ministry, used to ask medical visa applicants for €2,500 a month to cover the expenses of treatment and lodging and an extra €100 per patient.

It transpired that the amounts paid were not used at all for the purpose they were paid

“Mr Gafà had been handed over 42 passports in all for the purpose of application for visa and hospital (St James) bookings for the patients,” Dr Cuschieri wrote.

“It transpired that the amounts paid were not used at all for the purpose they were paid, so Mr Gafà agreed to refund to my client the amount of €37,800, which, in turn, shall be paid back to the Libyan nationals who paid the money in the first place,” he added.

The letter was passed on to the police for investigation while Mr Gafà, who denied the claims, continued handling logistics related to Libyan nationals travelling to Malta through medical visas.

The police said on Tuesday they had concluded investigations and that “based on the evidence held so far, Mr Gafà won’t be arraigned as he was not involved in any criminal behaviour”.

Asked yesterday whether any other action would be taken, a spokesman for the police said: “We will be seeking the advice of the Attorney General on whether the complaint that Mr Ben Nasan has filed amounts to false claims.”

Mr Gafà said he would be seeking legal advice when asked whether, in the circumstances, he would be taking any legal action against Mr Ben Nasan.

This newspaper reported last November the police had widened their investigation at Identity Malta to cover the issue of hundreds of medical visas to Libyan citizens. It was also reported that a number of officials at Identity Malta and at the Office of the Prime Minister were helping the police.

Asked for a breakdown of the medical facilities used by those having a medical visa, the government replied that “the absolute majority were treated at St James Hospital”.

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