Accused in HSBC heist unconnected to car theft reports - witnesses

Six witnesses testifying in the case against David Gatt – charged with masterminding the €1 million theft from HSBC bank in Balzan and a failed heist on the Qormi headquarters – have denied that the former police inspector was connected to the theft of six cars and licence plates.

Gatt, now a lawyer, was said to have been connected to the theft of cars that were related to the hold-up on the HSBC Malta headquarters in June 2010.

Gatt is indicted for masterminding a €1 million theft from the Balzan branch of HSBC in 2007, the failed heist in 2010 which ended in a shoot-out with police, the failed heist on a security van carrying €2.8 million in 2009, and the attempted hold-up on a jeweller in Attard in December 2010.

The charges are based on the evidence of witness Mario Portelli, a police constable who was once Gatt’s confidant.

The prosecution called to the stand a number of police officers involved in a number of reports relating to stolen number plates, a stolen vehicle that was later retrieved in Attard, a report about a stolen Toyota van found in Qormi on the day of the hold-up, and the theft of a motorbike from Hamrun which was retrieved from Qormi.

However all officers confirmed under oath that in their investigations and reports, the name of the accused had not surfaced.

Two civilian witnesses, Marco Lucia and Joe Borg, recounted how a van had blocked the carriageway in Qormi. “A man got out and signalled at the drivers that he would only block the road for a minute, however he disappeared down a side road,” Lucia said.

In a barely audible tone, Joe Borg explained that his van had gone missing on the day and that he filed a police report. “I recognised my van when I saw it on television during the evening news.”

Both civilian witnesses insisted that they had never heard the name of David Gatt, nor knew him in any way.

Police Sergeant Arthur Debattista from the forensic section also testified, telling the court he had been ordered to check whether the fingerprints of Fabia Psaila, one of Gatt’s conspirators, were present on the stolen cars. “My job was simply to lift the latent prints in connection with a hold-up at the HSBC offices. My report was also used in another court case, but it was not my duty to do any comparisons,” he told Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona.

Lawyer Joe Giglio is appearing for David Gatt.