Cardona denies arrest over HSBC hold-up, but was questioned over David Gatt

Former Labour minister Chris Cardona has denied having being arrested and interrogated in connection with the 2010 HSBC hold-up as alleged by Nationalist MP in the House of Representatives.

“I was never arrested. What Jason Azzopardi said is a lie,” he said.

The audacious hold-up was cast back into the spotlight last week when two men accused of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia indicated they had information on the involvement of an ex-minister and a sitting minister in the botched heist 11 years ago.

Cardona did confirm though that police had asked him about lawyer David Gatt, who was “eventually arrested, accused and acquitted of all charges” linked to the heist.

At the time, Gatt offered legal services from a Birkirkara office that belongs to Cardona.

“The office was and still is my property. Gatt practiced there and later attended in one of the rooms upstairs to his clients. There were also other lawyers at that time,” Cardona said.

What Cardona told this newspaper tallies with information obtained from a source who was close to the investigation at the time: “Chris Cardona was spoken to by then police commissioner John Rizzo months after the heist and it was very likely linked to his professional connection with David Gatt on whom the police had received information,” the source said.

Gatt had been charged with masterminding the HSBC headquarters hold-up and accused of heading a criminal gang that carried out several high-profile hold-ups during that period. One of the hold-ups involved the €1 million heist on the Balzan HSBC branch in 2007.
However, police evidence against Gatt rested on the key testimony of police officer Mario Portelli, who was deemed unreliable by the court because of mental health issues.

Gatt was eventually acquitted of all charges in 2017.

The cases against Darren Debono, known as it-Topo (not the footballer), Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, and Fabio Psaila, who were charged with carrying out the heist are ongoing.

Former police commissioner John Rizzo would not comment when contacted by this newspaper about the claims that he had interrogated Cardona.

“I will not comment and it is best if you direct your questions to the police force. If and when I am requested by any competent authority to assist or testify on what I found during investigations, I will do so as is my duty,” Rizzo said.

The police would only say that the investigations on the HSBC heist in 2010 are ongoing. When asked whether Cardona had been interrogated under arrest at the time, the police would neither confirm nor deny.

“Kindly note that in view of Article 87 of the Police Act, we are not in a position to confirm or otherwise. Furthermore, in regards to the 2010 HSBC heist, investigations have never been closed,” the police replied.