The Duty Magistrate has upheld a request for a magisterial inquiry into an alleged Identita racket involving the distribution of 18,000 false identity cards, lawyer Jason Azzopardi said on his social media pages on Tuesday.

Speaking about his request for an inquiry, Azzopardi said that this situation “concerns the greatest corruption scandal to ever exist in our country in a government department or agency”. He said that on 31 July, he had presented an applocation to open a magisterial inquiry into “the corruption and money laundering in connection to the distribution of Maltese identity cards from Identity Malta”. He remarked that the agency is now known as Identita, though “the only identity it has is corruption”.

Going over the reasons why he made his request, he said that foreigners were being given Maltese ID cards through the use of falsified documents, including falsified marriage certificates and falsified certificates from the Malta Business Registry. 

Regarding the falsified business registry documents, Azzopardi said that such documents were not falsified from within the MBR itself, but by individuals working within Identity Malta. He continued that the name of a company would be registered on a particular Maltese address while the person living there would not even know that their address had been used for this purpose. “We have arrived at a state in this country where they are stealing the private addresses of our homes,” the lawyer remarked.

Azzopardi said that Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa had known about the situation for “at least two and a half years, in fact, longer than that”, but had still not requested for an inquiry to be opened. “The reason is very simple,” Azzopardi continued, “if you investigate the racket in a forensic manner as you are supposed to, you would get to Castille, you would get to the Office of the Prime Minister.”

He continued that if the investigation were to be done properly, public officials would be found to have been involved, “very high in the government including in the Cabinet… including the OPM”

Referring again to the decree of the Duty Magistrate, Azzopardi said that just fourteen days after his request was made, the magistrate had found enough reasons for an inquiry to be opened. He remarked that this means that “an ordinary citizen such as myself” had done in fourteen days “what Angelo Gafa, Robert Abela, Byron Camilleri, and Identity Malta could have done three or two years ago and did not”.

The lawyer remarked that this meant that for the first time in Malta, a magisterial inquiry would take place because of the request of a “private, normal citizen” to investigate “corruption, money laundering, falsification of documents, trading in influence, conspiracy”.

Azzopardi questioned whether the Minister for Identita still existed, referring to Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri. “Casper the friendly ghost is easier to find,” he commented.

He said that he wanted the gravity of the moment to be understood, and asked why the concerned authorities, “primarily Angelo Gafa, Identity Malta, Byron Camilleri, Ryan Spagnol, and Mark Mallia” did not request an inquiry, remarking that they could have done so two or three years ago.

Having said that, he added that he is now turning to all the Maltese who have received letters registered to their address which were addressed to foreigners who they do not know. “I have given you a tool to knock on the door of the magistrate who will be leading the inquiry where you, with a simple request, can present each and every one of your cases.”

Azzopardi said that he is “no one special”, and that what he has done could have been done by anyone. “Everyone has the duty to stand up for what is right,” he continued, “do not let them steal your identity, our dignity… They are corrupt.”

“This is a mafia, though it is not called a mafia, but it is the same structure. All you need to break apart the mafia is people who speak,” Azzopardi said, referring to statements previously made by assassinated Italian Judge Giovanni Falcone.

The lawyer concluded by saying that now is the time to speak, “now is the moment for people to request the status of whistleblower”. He added that people can come forward and speak to him privately, or they can go to the magistrate.

“I appeal for you to use the tool of law. Grow a spine, do not let them walk over you. They steal your identity… I am bombarded every day with stories.”