Police investigations uncovered only seven fake ID cards in Identità scandal, court hears

Identità Chief Head of Compliance testifies in proceedings, refuting claims that thousands of forgery cases had been unveiled in investigations

25 March 2025, 4:52pm
by Maya Galea

2 min read

Maria Spiteri (left) and Bernard Attard covering his head with his jacket (right) are charged in connection with a racket that saw foreigners obtain residency permits fraudulently (Photos: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

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Only seven fake ID cards were discovered, rather than the alleged thousands initially suggested in connection with the Identità racket, a court heard on Tuesday.

The compilation of evidence against former identita’ employee Maria Rita Spiteri and car dealer Bernard Attard, who are currently facing charges of money laundering, human trafficking, identity theft and fraud and forgery continued on Tuesday afternoon.

In the previous sitting, the court heard that that the alleged fraudsters asked foreigners for thousands of euros in exchange for the false documents.

The prosecution, led by lawyer Manuel Grech, stated that although the initial allegation suggested thousands of forged identity cards, police investigations only uncovered seven fake ID cards.

This was also confirmed by former Chief Head of Compliance at Identità, Claudio Spiteri.

When questioned by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, Spiteri stated that Identità had 16 files related to the case.

“I have never heard of these thousands of ID cards being mentioned,” Spiteri told the court.

The prosecution also explained that they had investigated various letters with incorrect addresses, rental agreements, internet bills, and more, but once again confirmed that they only found seven forged ID cards.

Spiteri also revealed that while working at Identità, he was asked to investigate a case involving three Egyptian nationals who were granted residency status when pretending to be married to UK citizens.

However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that these British individuals had no knowledge of who the Egyptian nationals were.

As a result, Spiteri forwarded the case to the police and the fraud was discovered.

Inspectors Andy Rotin, Keith Darmanin, Lara Butters, Christian Abela, with the help of AG lawyers Manuel Grech and Andrea Zammit prosecuted.

The court was presided over by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.

Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin acted as the defence for Spiteri.

Lawyers Jose Herrera and Matthew Xuereb acted as the defence for Attard.

Maya Galea is a MaltaToday court reporter. She is a second year law student at the Univers...