[ad_1]
The magistrate ordered the police chief to investigate two officials from the government agency Identità after they gave conflicting testimonies in court.
The officials were testifying in a case against an Egyptian man, Moustafa Ata Moussa Darwish, who was accused of providing false information to obtain a Maltese residence permit by falsely telling immigration authorities that he was married to a British woman.
However, the case against Darvish took a turn when officials from the identity department in court gave conflicting statements about the availability of the man’s file, with Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi ordering police to investigate.
Darvish received a permit in March 2023, but last month police ordered the revocation of his residence card.
Chief Information Officer Stefano Rodoligo said he had asked an officer from the Identità expatriates department to search the agency’s archives for the document.
Rodoligo testified that Isaac Micallef of the Expatriates Department personally brought the requested documents to his office. The documents contained documents related to the defendant’s application for a permit as a non-EU family member.
Rodoligo’s testimony drew skepticism from the judge, who asked him if he was sure what he had said. Just before Rodoligo took the stand, Micallef told the court he had found no trace of the document in the agency’s systems or archives.
The court then ordered Micallef to reiterate what he had said before Rodoligo. Micallef confirmed again that he had not found the documents he had been asked to find a week earlier. Micallef was given a list of items to look for.
The woman denied being married to the accused
Another witness, a British woman who is allegedly married to the accused, said that in 2022 an officer from Identity Malta (as the agency was then called) called her to ask if she would sponsor any family members to settle in Malta.
She denied the claim by email and heard nothing more until she recently received a call from Inspector Lara Butters of the police immigration department, who asked if she was married, had ever been to Egypt or had Egyptian relatives.
The woman testified that she had no relationship with any Egyptian national and denied ever being married to the defendant.
This case, like two others in which Egyptian men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to six months in prison, came to light following an internal investigation by Identità’s compliance department.
The case was subsequently handed over to the police for further investigation.
Former official enters application details into computer
Butters confirmed under oath that through conversations with the woman, the residence permit was issued under a false premise because there was no document on the Identità. She testified that there was only an application form on the computer.
Under questioning by defense attorneys, Butters admitted that Maria Spiteri, an identification officer who worked in the agency’s foreign national division, entered the application details into the computer system.
It is worth noting that in response to a question from MaltaToday Identità did not say whether its internal investigation into the fraud had found any wrongdoing by its executives.The agency said only that it was cooperating with the police investigation.
Police officer Hubert Gerada testified that Darwish entered Malta illegally in August 2018 and was one of 59 people rescued at sea. He had no personal documents, only a Samsung mobile phone. Despite this, in June 2022, Darwish traveled to Istanbul with an Egyptian passport and a Maltese residence permit.
A representative of the International Protection Agency said the defendant’s asylum application had been rejected and was still pending appeal.
After it was discovered that the defendant obtained his residence permit through false declaration, his residence permit was revoked.
The court supported Darwish’s request for bail, guaranteed by the owner of the barbershop where Darwish was regularly employed. The defendant’s employer will receive a third-party guarantee of 5,000 euros, in addition to a personal guarantee of 10,000 euros for the defendant.
Officers Lara Butters and Christian Abela were charged. Attorneys Nicholas Mifsud and Tiziana Micallef represented Darwish in court. The case continues.
[ad_2]
Source link
