[WATCH] Updated | Adrian Delia wants every deal carried out by 'boastful' IIP broker to be investigated

Adrian Delia wants every deal carried out by IIP broker to be investigated

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has said that every passport brokered by IIP agent, Chetcuti Cauchi Advisors, must be investigated.

On Monday, a secret recording by a French TV news programme revealed one of Malta’s most successful agents of the IIP, boasting of his friendly relations with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship Julia Farrugia Portelli.

In a reaction to the report, the PN called for the cash-for-citizenship programme to be suspended after the passport agent boasted about his influence with the authorities.

On Monday, PN spokesperson for citizenship Karol Aquilina also called for an inquiry into every passport application by the agent.

The government has suspended Chetcuti Cauchi's licence and the IIP agency has asked the scheme regulator to look into every application the agent was involved in.

Delia was asked to elaborate on what inquiry the PN would like to see.

"There should be an investigation into the company, the passports it has brokered and any negotiation it has carried out in the name of the country," Delia said.

The Opposition leader also said that the people mentioned in the French report should also be investigated, after the report showed the agent boasting of his close relationship with top government officials.

Delia said that in other countries, when a scandal of this sort is made public, an investigation is set up immediately, but not in this country.

Adrian Delia also reacted to the suspension of the agent's licenses by the IIP Agency, on the basis that the firm disseminated “misleading information”.

He stated that the law necessitates that such a suspension is issued and the government did nothing special in doing so.

Delia also said that beyond the investigation, one must see who was involved from the government’s side, and the relevant authorities.

"We must also see what damaging effects these reports will have on Malta, and who will be held responsible," Delia said.

The PN leader also reiterated his position, that if the PN were to be elected to government, the IIP scheme would be abolished.

"Our country’s sovereignty is not for sale. Let us find alternative ways to attracting investment to our country," he said.

He also called on the government to publish a list of the investors that have enrolled within the IIP scheme, and what their investments entail.

Government reacts

In a reaction to Delia's comments, the parliamentray sectretary for citizenship stated that the MIIPA has already asked the IIP regulator to review all files submitted by the said agent and has put all pending applications on hold. 

"Media comments by Adrian Delia have been expressed one day later than the action the government has immediately taken regarding the issue," the statment concluded. 

READ ALSO: Passport agents and Paceville boss boast of ministerial friendships in French TV reveal

READ ALSO: Malta IIP agency suspends licence of passport agent who bragged about connections to ministers