Police official who ignored 17 Black allegations, suspended from police force

Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla, formerly head of the economic crimes unit, has been suspended from the police force

Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdila (right)
Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdila (right)

Updated at 11:00 pm with police statement

A top police official whose role as Economic Crimes Unit chief had come under scrutiny for the way the 17 Black allegations were handled, has been suspended.

Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla was formerly chief of the economic crimes unit before he was removed from the post under Commissioner of Police Angelo Gafà.

Abdilla was accused of having sat on evidence of criminal wrongdoing by top government officials. 

In a reply to questions by MaltaToday, a police spokesperson confirmed that an official has been suspended.

“The Malta Police Force has suspended a Malta Police Force official in line with the Public Service Commission Disciplinary Regulations, pending investigations,” he said.

Abdilla had also met OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri at Castille in 2017, when FIAU reports detailing suspicions that Schembri was involved in criminal activity had started to leak. In the public inquiry into journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death, Abdilla said he had been summoned to the meetings by the prime minister’s former chief of staff, and that he had “advised” Schembri to speak to a lawyer about leaked FIAU reports about corruption and money-laundering during these meetings. 

Under his tenure, police claimed to have no reasonable suspicion to investigate Schembri or former energy minister Konrad Mizzi, who set up secret offshore companies in Panama, later found to be linked to Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech and his Dubai company 17 Black.

Abdilla also admitted having aborted a meeting with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech in November 2018 to discuss the Reuters report that revealed that Fenech owned 17 Black, because his superior Silvio Valletta - who has also left the force - had told him Fenech was sick.

Fenech was arrested in November 2019 on murder charges, with the help of Europol. 

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew has previously accused Ian Abdilla of abdicating his duties. “If my mother was murdered to prevent her from publishing evidence that was already in the hands of, or that would have eventually come into the hands of, Ian Abdilla and the FIAU, then Fenech must have been absolutely certain that Ian Abdilla would never press charges against him, or even conduct a full investigation, based on that same evidence,” Caruana Galizia said.

Abdilla inaction proves the government has seized institutions - David Casa

Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla's inaction showcases how the government has seized the institutions, Nationalist Party MEP David Casa said on Facebook.  

The MEP said that instead of doing his duty to defend the Maltese and Gozitan People, Abdilla instead saw how he could protect criminals. 

"Time has proved me right. I have been pushing for action against Ian Abdilla for a number of months. He should be investigated for his actions," Casa said. 

"In the absence of his action, his hands are also stained with the blood of Daphne Caruana Galizia," he said.