Mario CamenzuliMario Camenzuli

A police sergeant reinstated soon after Labour was returned to power in 2013 will be charged with the falsification of documents and security breaches at Malta International Airport, the Times of Malta is informed.

A police spokesman confirmed yesterday that charges against Mario Camenzuli, 67, of Cospicua had already been filed in court.

The case allegedly involves the entry into Malta of third-country nationals.

“Charges have been issued and filed against Mr Camenzuli,” the spokesman said, though he would not say when the officer would appear in court or list the charges.

However, police sources indicated that Mr Camenzuli, who was forced to resign when the allegations against him were made, would appear in the coming days. It was also possible that more people “connected to the police” would be charged, they added.

It is possible that more people connected to the police will be charged

An investigation was opened last January after it was suspected that Mr Camenzuli could have been involved in illegal activities at the airport, where he was stationed. CCTV footage viewed by police officers investigating the case allegedly showed him accompanying migrants arriving to Malta from non-EU countries and bypassing passport and visa checks.

Widening their investigations, the police found indications that a number of people could have also been involved in the falsification of stamps normally used to authorise entry on passports, the sources said.

It was suspected that the people involved had been paid to produce the passport stamps allowing the migrants to remain in Malta without the necessary authorisation, the sources continued.

Malta International Airport sources said that Mr Camenzuli had been made responsible for the immigration/emigration police at the airport by former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit soon after the former’s return to the force in 2013.

Prior to 2013, the police had strict rules with regards to reinstatement, among them that only officers under the age of 50 who had not been in retirement for more than 10 years could apply. However, Labour changed the rules, allowing officers who had been in retirement for more than 20 years to return, as were those over 60.

In 2015, Mr Camenzuli was awarded a medal for his long and efficient service by former home affairs minister Carmelo Abela.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.