UHM calls for police chief’s head for delay in Pilatus investigation

The Union Haddiema Maghqudin has called for the resignation of police commissioner Laurence Cutajar for not instantly ordering a raid on Pilatus Bank on Thursday night.

The UHM said in a statement that the police force isn’t carrying out its responsibility to investigate serious allegations and that the union will be attending a national protest on Sunday, that will be organised by the Nationalist Party.

Daphne Caruana Galizia alleged on Thursday that Pilatus Bank had stored away documentation proving that the Prime Minister’s wife Michelle Muscat is the ultimate beneficiary owner of the secret offshore Panama company Egrant. Shortly after the story was published on Caruana Galizia’s blog, Muscat called an urgent press conference to deny the allegations. A few hours later, he announced that he had asked the police commissioner to ask a duty magistrate to investigate the allegations.

However, between the press conference and the announcement, a crew from Net TV filmed Pilatus’ chairman Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad and another bank employee emerging from the back door of Whitehall Mansions in Ta’ Xbiex – where the bank is headquartered – carrying two suitcases. This fuelled speculation, including from Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, that the two were wheeling off evidence from the bank ahead of the inquiry.

Specifically, Laurence Cutajar has been mocked and chastised for going to a fenkata in Mgarr on Thursday night instead of ordering an instant investigation.

“As time goes by, it is becoming ever clearer for the public that not everyone is equal before the law as was amply clear on Thursday when the police commissioner failed to take action on a situation that was being followed by the entire nation,” UHM chief Josef Vella said. “The eventual inquiry was too little and too late, and we now expect the police commissioner to hand in his resignation.” 

The Oppositon has accused Laurence Cutajar of being Joseph Muscat's puppet from the day he was appointed to the top job last August. They notably flagged a Facebook status he had written in 2013, in which he praised the Prime Minister for "having balls".