PN questions Muscat’s will to fight ‘institutionalised corruption’

The Nationalist Party has accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of shirking his responsibility to tackle institutionalised corruption, in the wake of a residence permit scam operated by auditor and former Labour treasurer Joe Sammut.

“Instead of putting the public’s mind at rest, Muscat has chosen to remain silent about a scandal in which a former PL treasurer is involved,” PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said in a statement. “Muscat has not yet answered how Sammut managed to build a web of corruption within government departments, particularly Identity Malta”.

Sammut, who served as Labour treasurer between 1993 and 1994, has been charged in court with fraud, misappropriation, money laundering and forgery over allegations that he set up 800 fake companies as a means of helping Libyan nationals fleeing the civil war obtain residence permits.

Following his arraignment, Identity Malta said that a “rigorous system” it had implemented “months ago” has made it more possible to identify cases of abuse.

However, Fenech Adami said that Identity Malta executive chairman Joe Vella Bonnici, a former PL candidate, seems to care more about having all his family members employed on the public purse than he does about ending institutionalised corruption.

“Muscat, who personally chose Vella Bonnici to lead Identity Malta, has a lot to answer for,” he said.

He questioned whether any steps have been taken to identify the people who are allegedly living in Malta illegally and to rescind the hundreds, if not thousands, of residence permits granted illegally.