A police complaints board has found that the top officials of the police, including police commissioner Angelo Gafa, were unaware of a German request for a European arrest warrant for gambling consultant Iosif Galea.

The board also found that two officials were however responsible for administrative shortcomings which meant that the German request went unheeded.

A statement issued by the Maltese police, released Friday, included a short excerpt of the report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission led by retired judge Franco Depasquale.

The board determined that there was no interference from Commissioner of Police Angelo Gafà or top brass for the EAW not to be executed. But administrative deficiencies identified by the complaints board led to the EAW request to be ignored or not executed by the responsible officials.

The inquiry board found that there were serious shortcomings on the part of certain police officials, but it also pointed to systemic issues within the force when it comes to oversight and monitoring.

According to the report, Gafà and other higher-up officials within the corps were not even aware of the EAW issued against Iosif Galea on 28 May 2021.

“It is the understanding of the Board that there needs to be some form of system through which every case should be monitored until it is brought to court, or a reason should be given as to why it wasn’t continued.”

The inquiry board determined that Gafa was not trying to cover up Galea’s behaviour. Gafa testified to the board that he had left a memo in 2013, before he moved to the Security Services, to prosecute Galea for computer misuse.

Gafa told the board he took action last February after realising the case had been shelved for so long.

The request for the investigation to the complaints board was submitted by Gafa, over claims that he could have known of the EAW prior to Galea being allowed leave for a holiday abroad, despite being on police bail in Malta in connection with a trading in influence investigation.

Galea was arrested in Italy last May on a German EAW related to a tax investigation. Earlier that week, the Maltese police had confirmed it had also issued its own EAW for Galea's arrest.

Italian newspapers had reported that Galea was arrested on the night of 14-15 May as he arrived for a holiday he was to take at Cellino San Marco.

Galea was said to have been joining his partner Maria Grech, a longtime assistant of Michelle Muscat, wife of the former prime minister Joseph Muscat, at the Marigold Foundation.