Prime Minister Robert Abela this morning said that there are at least 160 people who have received funds they were not entitled to, but investigations are ongoing and the number could increase.

Speaking to journalists, Abela said that once he had become aware of the first case he had passed on the information to the police to investigate.

Abela was answering questions about news reports that some 800 people were involved in a racket which saw them receiving benefits they were not entitled to. Last week, the Social Policy Ministry said that 141 people had been ordered to return a total of €2.1 million.

Former Labour MP Silvio Grixti is implicated in the racket by allegedly providing false documents enabling people to receive benefits for disabilities they did not suffer from. He resigned in 2021.

Abela said that no other serving Labour MP or official had directed anyone to commit any irregularity, but added that the same question should be asked about Nationalist MPs. He said he had taken the political decision to ask Grixti to resign as soon as he became aware of the scandal, but refrained from saying further so as not to prejudice police investigations.

He said that an administrative inquiry had been appointed by Minister Michael Falzon and the recommendations from its report would be debated in Parliament.

Nationalist Party reaction

In reply, the Nationalist Party said that instead of playing the partisan game and attempting to throw doubts in people's minds, Prime Minister Abela shoud]ld take any information he has on PN officials to the police for investigation.