Uncertainty surrounds the arraignment of five men in connection with a social benefits fraud racket, after the surprise recusal of the magistrate appointed to preside over it.

When the sitting was due to start on Thursday, Magistrate Leonard Caruana announced that he had been “made aware of certain proceedings” which, for the sake of the best administration of justice, he would be abstaining from presiding over this case. The court then sent the acts of the case back to the registrar to be reassigned.

What proceedings were being referred to is unclear at this time.

After the court’s pronouncement lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Michael Sciriha informed the court that they would have had no difficulty with him presiding over the case, but would submit to his decision.

The public and media were then sent out of the courtroom and the hearing continued in their absence.

The former Labour MP embroiled in a social benefits racket, Dr. Silvio Grixti, appeared in court this morning to be formally charged, together with alleged co-conspirators Roger Agius, Emmanuel Spagnol, Dustin Caruana, and Luke Saliba, with offences relating to fraud and organised crime.

Grixti, a popular medical doctor, cut a lonely figure as he entered court, in silence, to be charged in court in connection with his role in a social benefits racket. He had nothing to say when journalists asked him whether top brass inside Labour knew of his dealings with constituents and his role in the racket.

The disability benefits racket enabled claimants to receive monthly payments, averaging around €450, from the Department of Social Security.

The five men are not expected to be arraigned under arrest.

They are to face charges of organising and forming part of a criminal organisation, defrauding the Department of Social Security of an amount in excess of €5,000, forging official documents that entitle holders to payment and knowingly making use of such documents.

The men are also to be charged with forging public documents and knowingly making use of them, making a false declaration to the public authorities and possession of items intended to be used for fraudulent purposes.

They will also be accused of money laundering.

Two of the men, Dustin Caruana and Emanuel Spagnol, will also be charged with breaching bail conditions they had been released from arrest under, in connection with other cases.

Police Inspectors Wayne Borg, Andy Rotin and Shaun Friggieri are prosecuting, assisted by lawyers Abigail Caruana Vella, Charmaine Abdilla from the Office of the Attorney General.

The investigation was revealed by the Times of Malta, detailing how Grixti was involved in a years-long racket to help “hundreds” of people fraudulently receive monthly disability benefits they were not entitled to.

The MP provided false medical documents to help people, often hailing from Labour strongholds, to receive social benefits averaging €450 monthly for severe disabilities they did not suffer from.

The Financial Crime Investigations Department (FCID) started investigating in 2021, with police combing through hundreds of suspicious files of people who were receiving the benefits, interrogating them and charging most of them in court.

Some of the claimants said they were referred to Grixti by a Labour minister, PL politicians’ aides, and even customer care officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.