The police have presented 31 writs of summons in Court in connection with VAT fraud investigations. Six are public officers.

They are expected to face charges of bribery, fraud and organised crime in connection with the €10m scam and could face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted. Two also face drug-related charges.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said this showed that the government always acted whenever reports of irregularities were made.

“The governemnt is showing that it would not allow anyone to abuse of the laws of the country,” the OPM said.

“This is a clear message that the governemnt takes reports of irregularities seriously.”

Dr Gonzi pointed out that what had taken place so far were police investigations. This did not mean that the process was closed, and one had to await the decisions of the court.

The Times reported last week that the mastermind was an employee at the VAT department who during interrogation admitted to pocketing more than €180,000 from a relatively small scam he had started out with.

Eventually it mushroomed into a racket suspected to involve about 30 people, six of them department officials.

The people to be charged also include a number of businessmen in the catering, air-conditioning supply and construction sectors.

PL INSISTS ON POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Labour Party in a reaction to the Prime Minister’s comments said that no one within the government was shouldering political responsibility for what had happened, in contrast to what took place in other democracies.

This corruption case had reportedly cost Maltese taxpayers €10 million, and the Prime Minister had a duty to ensure that whoever was politically responsible should also assume his responsibilities, the PL said.

Only in this way could the government be taken seriously when it said it treated reports of abuse seriously.

See also:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090808/local/charge-of-organised-crime-over-vat-fraud