The owner of a Sliema apartment being investigated by police after at least 50 foreigners submitted the address as their official residence insists she is the victim of this sham activity.
“I am the victim of this fraudulent activity. I was not aware that my address, or even my name, were being used illegally to provide an address to the authorities. I am a victim of this too,” Marisa Camilleri told the Times of Malta when contacted yesterday.
“I am helping the police with their investigations because I too feel cheated,” she added.
Ms Camilleri was contacted after this newspaper obtained a copy of a false lease agreement submitted to Identity Malta by a Libyan national. The agreement features not only her name and address but also what Ms Camilleri claims is her forged signature. The apartment in Windsor Terrace is registered under Ms Camilleri’s name but it is currently rented out to friends.
The potential racket surfaced during a police investigation into the possession of forged documents by a Libyan national after Identity Malta flagged up the matter.
‘Someone was using my name, address’
The investigation led to the arrest and arraignment of Abdarrhim Osman, a 25-year-old Libyan who holds subsidiary humanitarian protection. He was charged with possession and use of forged documents. He pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged for two years.
The investigation has so far revealed that 35 Libyans, five Ukrainians and a number of Slovak, British, French and Chinese nationals were allegedly charged between €150 and €350 each to use the apartment as their official residence address when they applied for official documentation, such as identity cards, visas and residence permits.
The investigations show that after paying the requested amount, the foreigners indicated a mobile number where the landlady would call them to collect any mail they received.
But Ms Camilleri said she was in the dark about this operation involving her name and address. She insisted she could not even have smelt a rat because she had received no post at her apartment.
She specified that she did not live in the apartment but friends were living there.
“As far as I know the police have found that the lease agreements were fraudulent. Someone was using my name, signature and address. I am not involved in the scam whatsoever. I am the victim,” she repeated.
The matter of fake addresses had first been brought to the attention of Parliament by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who last November said two people had received post addressed to someone else after their addresses were used as official residential addresses on Identity Malta documents.