No charges yet against prison official suspected of stealing €9,600 from inmate

No charges have been filed yet against a prison warder suspected of stealing almost €10,000 from an inmate, despite the recommendations of a magisterial inquiry. 

According to the findings of the inquiry seen by MaltaToday, the cash went missing after the inmate surrendered his belongings for safekeeping upon entry into prison.

The magisterial inquiry concluded in December 2022 recommended police investigate the warder to whom the cash was surrendered, indicating him as the prime suspect for “aggravated theft”. 

However, according to the police the findings of the inquiry were “inconclusive” and investigations were still ongoing. 

“A magisterial inquiry has been concluded, which however was inconclusive. Police investigations are still ongoing,” a spokesperson for the police force told MaltaToday when asked whether the warder was charged. 

The case goes back to August 2021 when Muuse Igaale Ali, a prominent figure in the local Somali community, had been detained at the airport after failing to declare €160,000 in cash he was carrying with him while boarding a flight to Istanbul. 

He was subsequently charged with tax evasion and money laundering and was remanded in custody. At the time of being remanded in custody, Igaale was still in possession of €10,000, which had not been affected by the charges. 

But in the next sitting, Igaale’s lawyers, Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb, informed the court that when their client had asked the prison authorities for the money to be returned to him, he had been told that the cash was missing. 

Igaale subsequently filed a police report at the Paola police station, accompanied by officers from the police Anti Money Laundering squad. 

A magisterial inquiry into the disappearance of the money was subsequently conducted by magistrate (now judge) Doreen Clarke. 

The inquiry established that while he was being escorted back to prison from his arraignment in August 2021, Igaale had tested positive for COVID-19 and was immediately placed in isolation, in Division 14 – the section of prison allocated to COVID positive inmates – without the usual handover between the police and prison officials having been carried out.  

Once in the Corradino Correctional Facility, the inmate had transferred the contents of his hand luggage and another bag that he had been carrying since his arrest into a white plastic bag. This bag, together with the cash, which was put in an envelope, remained in Igaale’s possession. He was the only inmate being held in the division at the time. 

The day after Igaale’s arrest the same prison official who had supervised him while he was transferring his belongings into the white bag and envelope, filed an internal report. According to the warder, Igaale had offered him money in exchange for use of his mobile phone. 

Two days later, the same Correctional Officer asked Igaale to hand over his possessions to him, to which instruction Igaale complied. The inquiry noted that the protocols for registering inmates’ belongings had not been followed by this prison official, neither upon Igaale’s admission, nor at this stage. 

After completing his two-week quarantine period, the inmate had been transferred to Division 20, and two days later transferred again to Division 2. He had spoken to the Correctional Inspector in charge about the fact that he had handed his belongings to the Correctional Officer. 

Three days later, Igaale was taken to the Chief Correctional Officer’s office to be registered. At that point, the CCO, Helenio Galea, was informed that Igaale’s belongings had been taken from his possession and secured in a separate room. But when this room was unlocked in order for the registration procedure to be carried out, the cash was nowhere to be found. 

The inquiry said that the prison official who had initially supervised Igaale was the only person who appeared to have taken possession of the inmate’s belongings. 

Besides highlighting the need for a backup system for registering new inmates, the magisterial inquiry had concluded that it was apparent that sometime between 25 August and 10 September 2021 the offence of aggravated theft had taken place and identified the Correctional Officer in question as liable to prosecution.  

But although the magistrate ordered the inquiry to be delivered to the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police for further action to be taken, no further steps appear to have been taken. 

A spokesperson for the Correctional Services Agency told MaltaToday the organisation cooperates with any investigation by the relevant authorities but was unaware that this specific inquiry was concluded. 

“To this date, the agency was not notified that any investigations in this regard have been concluded,” the spokesperson said. 

She added that the agency has recently enhanced its procedures related to valuable possessions brought by inmates upon their admission to the Corradino Correctional Facility. 

“These include the use of sealed bags, registers, and a dedicated secure room to store these possessions. Moreover, the agency continuously updates its policies and procedures to provide a more secure and transparent admission to the facility,” she said.

Additional reporting Karl Azzopardi