Just two weeks after being boarded out from the police force under dubious circumstances and with equally dubious speed, former Police Inspector Daniel Zammit, along with his brother and fellow police inspector Roderick Zammit, went into business with an Italian online gaming operator who, according to reports, had regularly lent Daniel Zammit his Ferrari F12 Berlinetta while he was still an inspector with the Economic Crimes Unit.

While on the face of it there may be nothing wrong with borrowing a Ferrari from a friend, the fact that an inspector from the Economic Crimes Unit went into business two weeks after leaving the force with a person he had formerly been duty bound to investigate if necessary raises some very serious questions on the cosy arrangement.

The Economic Crimes Unit is tasked with investigating the online gaming sector, which is notorious for money laundering activity and it is a sector that both the Malta Gaming Authority and the police force keep a close eye on.  Daniel Zammit’s brother Roderick, who is still on the force, is also an Economic Crimes Unit inspector.

Official records show that on 7 May 2015 both Daniel and Roderick Zammit formed a company, Tyche Consultancy Limited, with a certain Francesco Airo’ (photo), an Italian operating in the Maltese online gaming sector – each holding a 33.3 per cent share in the new business.  Daniel Zammit and Mr Airo’ were appointed as the company’s joint directors.

Mr Airo’, meanwhile, also serves as the company secretary for the Malta-registered New Network Limited, which is owned Sicilian Giuseppe Marotta and which holds a Malta Gaming Authority licence.

While alarms have been sounded over the fact that Daniel Zammit went into business with an individual who two weeks earlier he had been duty-bound to investigate if necessary, even though he had regularly borrowed his Ferrari according to reports by columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the fact that his brother Roderick was still serving as a police inspector at the time raises eyebrows even further, since police officers are precluded from forming part of any business concern while on the force.

The Public Service Management Code stipulates that unless specifically permitted in writing by the Home Affairs Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, police officers cannot have any form of business or employment outside of their official police duties.

The Malta Police Act also clearly states that members of the force who “carry on or are concerned in any trade or business, or otherwise fail to devote their whole time to the Police service” would be guilty of disobeying orders, unless the Commissioner of Police gives such approval.

This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Research undertaken by this newspaper also shows that Daniel Zammit – as well as his brother and father Ray Zammit (a veteran police officer who had most recently served as acting police commissioner in the wake of Peter Paul Zammit’s departure from the post) – had regularly flouted Public Service Management Code and the Police Act by entering into businesses as shareholders.

On 16 December 2010 Daniel Zammit, while he was still on the force, took a 33.3% shareholding in Diabolik Entertainment Limited, along with two other people holding equal shares: Stephen Bonnici and Luke Chetcuti, again in violation of the Public Service Management Code and the Police Act.

Then Inspector Daniel Zammit’s involvement in the company was more than a mere silent shareholding, as documents filed at the Malta Financial Services Authority show that it was Daniel Zammit himself who deposited the €1,200 company formation fee, in his own name, at Bank of Valletta.

The Zammit-Gaffarena business connections

As has been widely reported, there have been a number of business links between the Zammit and the family of Mark Gaffarena, who is otherwise embroiled in the Old Mint Street scandal, during the period in which Inspector Daniel Zammit was assigned to investigate the 2008 murder of Neville Baldacchino, who was allegedly shot dead by Stephen Caruana - the husband of Romina Gaffarena, sister to Mark Gaffarena and Joseph Gaffarena’s daughter. 

But while Daniel Zammit was investigating the case, between 2010 and 2014 the Zammit and Gaffarena families created two businesses together: Geras Care Limited and St Gabriel Residential Homes Limited.  The director of both companies is another Gaffarena sibling, Michael Gaffarena.

In the case of Geras Care Limited, the company is owned 50-50 by Joseph Gaffarena and Jane Zammit – Daniel and Roderick Zammit’s mother and Ray Zammit’s wife.  The company was incorporated in October 2014.

While none of the male Zammit’s names appear as directors or shareholders in the company, documents filed at the Malta Financial Services Authority show that it was Daniel Zammit himself who deposited the €1,200 company formation fee, in his own name, at Bank of Valletta.  Now unless Inspector Zammit was simply running an errand for his mother, this shows a very direct interest in the formation of the company.

The case of St Gabriel Residential Homes is somewhat different as Daniel, Roderick and Ray Zammit all held shares in the company when in was formed in June 2010, along with Michael Gaffarena and a certain George Buttigieg.  In May 2010 Daniel Zammit deposited, once again, the €1,200 company formation fee, in his own name, at Bank of Valletta. 

But in August 2014 the two brothers and their father transferred their shareholdings to their mother and wife Jane.

Some five weeks after being boarded out from the police force, Daniel Zammit also created another new company, Zurmed Trading Limited with a 33 per cent stake, along with three other individuals: Bernice Farrugia, Deborah Farrugia and Anthony Mario Vella.