No evidence of foreign ministry officials’ involvement in the Darren Debono situation was found by an inquiry.
The claim was originally made by Italian news agency Il Sole 24 Ore, who said that Italian investigators honed in on alleged contacts Darren Debono had with persons in the ministry.
The former Maltese international footballer, Debono, was arrested in Lampedusa on 18 October as part of investigations concerning the smuggling of oil from Libya to Italy.
These contacts in Malta allowed Debono to obtain origin certificates for the smuggled diesel, the article had read. According to the news outlet, the two documents were signed by a legalisation officer at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The report read that the Legislation Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used to sign of the necessary documentation to “legalise” the smuggled oil. These papers carried the signature with the initials K.M.
These allegations led to the launch of an inquiry.
PN MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici asked Foreign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela in Parliament to table the report of the inquiry.
The minister was unable to table the full report, due to sensitivity, but did publish the conclusions and recommendations.
The inquiry found that the ministry official, whose initials appeared in the article, appears to have carried out her duties as required by the system employed by the ministry which is based on international regulations and processes.
The inquiry also did not find that an official involved in the legalisation process had any contact with Darren Debono on this case as was indicated in the news article in question.
The inquiry also found no evidence of a 55-year-old female Foreign Affairs Ministry, “and it is clear from the inquiry that there is no 55-year-old female official involved in the legalisation procedure.”
The response read that the person who handles these cases appears to never have had contact with third persons (other than her superiors in the directorate) about the certification of documents.”
The conclusions read that from testimony heard, there was never any interference from persons in the Consular Services Directorate, or the foreign affairs ministry in the legalisation process. “The process itself is nothing more than the authentication of a person’s signature on documents presented.”
The process, the report findings read, is being operated through a system which includes the necessary audit trails. It notes that the system is old, and that discussions are underway for the necessary upgrades.
The inquiry board recommends that the Permanent Secretary within the Foreign Affairs Ministry set up a working group to revise procedures to ensure that certification occurs as per international rules. It also urged that the procedure be one that does not leave potential for abuse, and that it safeguard the reputation and administration of the ministry.