A letter box which was installed on a vacant house the owner of which moved to a state-owned care home is further proof of a “racket” at Identita, former PN MP Jason Azzopardi claimed on Saturday.

Azzopardi shared the photos of the letterbox on his Facebook page, saying that it contained two letters from Identita which told their recipient that their residence documents were now ready for collection.

The owner of the house was admitted to a care home just a week ago, Azzopardi said – a care home which is state-owned – and he added that the house never had a letterbox outsider her door.

It was her son who discovered that a letterbox had been installed at some point between last Sunday and Tuesday.  The son got in touch with Azzopardi who in turn advised him to keep the letterbox in place and to check any mail that would arrive.

The two letters were found on Thursday, each addressed to an Indian national that the woman’s son had never heard of.  Azzopardi published the letters with some identify details blurred out, and the letters – from Identita – show that the recipients may now pick up their residency documents.

These letters, the lawyer said, confirmed “that Identità fraudulently provided residency permits, identity documents and thus freedom of movement to these Indian nationals, corruptly and in breach of the law.”

The timing of the installation of the letterbox also indicated a misuse of data, Azzopardi said, adding that there was a criminal system in place where people with access to databases on admissions to state-owned care homes were passing information on to “criminals at Identita” so that they can input an address into the residence permits.

“No wonder they have to pay €8,000 each. There are a lot of mouths to feed,” Azzopardi said, citing the alleged cost of a residency permit under the racket.

Azzopardi has sought a magisterial inquiry into the allegations; allegations which Identita has vehemently denied.  

On Sunday he bolstered his claims by uploading other letters – one from Bank of Valletta and another from Mater Dei Hospital – addressed to two foreigners at the same address in Zejtun, where he said Maltese people currently live.

He then uploaded another letter sent from Mater Dei to a foreigner supposedly living in a resident in St Paul’s Bay – a residence where a Maltese couple lives.  The letter was made out to a man name Louis Alberto – his surname was blurred out of the photo.

“This Louis Alberto was given a Maltese ID card through bribery.  This Louis Alberto therefore has freedom of movement within the EU,” he said.