Retired judge Franco Depasquale is leading a probe into why Iosif Galea was allowed to travel in and out of Malta repeatedly despite being subject to a German arrest warrant for over a year, the Home Affairs Ministry confirmed in a statement.

Depasquale chairs the Independent Complaints Board of the Police Force.

Gaming consultant Iosif Galea, who used to work for the Malta Gaming Authority, was recently arrested in Italy over a German European Arrest Warrant linked to a tax investigation. A separate European Arrest Warrant was issued by the Maltese Authorities and is suspected of conspiracy together with leaking MGA insider information.

The German European Arrest Warrant came after a tax investigation required the then head of the gaming authority Iosif Galea to answer questions and after failing to be arrested in Malta, he was arrested between the 14 and 15 May after going on a vacation to Italy.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Home Affairs Ministry referred to a PN statement earlier in the day, saying that the Independent Complaints Board and retired Judge Franco Depasquale, who leads it, should be allowed to carry out their investigation with serenity and in accordance with the law.

In a statement on Wednesday morning, the PN had said that the government had accepted the request of the Opposition to hold an independent investigation into the Police’s work on the case of Iosif Galea.

“This is a small step which should help us start building the credibility of the Police Force,” the PN said in a statement signed by the party’s home affairs spokesperson Joe Giglio.

The PN then asks rhetorically what the next stop is, before adding that the party will insist that the government publishes the terms of references given to Judge Depasquale together with a clear timeframe for the investigation.

The government should also tie itself to publishing the full report which Judge Depasquale will prepare, the PN said before offering a hand of cooperation to the Judge and the government so unravel this matter once and for all.

The Home Affairs Ministry however said that, contrary to the impression given in the Opposition’s statement, it was on Monday that it had announced in Parliament that the matter was going to be investigated.

Byron Camilleri did indeed say on Monday that the matter would be investigated, but neglected to inform Parliament on who would be leading the investigation.

The Home Affairs Ministry appealed for comments to be “based on facts” and for entities to be allowed to do their jobs without ending up as political tools.