Following the news, nowadays, is, at times, comparable to what we experienced during the corruption-infested mid-1980s, which a number of us lived through. Most probably it is much worse than that.
Why is it, may we ask, that whenever the Labour Party is in government we hear much more than usual about fraud and corruption? Today's white-collar crime is clearly more organised, run on a quasi-professional basis. In contrast, the 1980s activity was run by relative amateurs.
(The notable exception is the 22-month period during Alfred Sant's short-lived administration. It is a period which today's Labour Party is not too nostalgic about. Nor is its rank and file.)
The underworld's skills and level of education has apparently improved over a forty-year span. While illiteracy may still be a considerable worry to educational planners, white-collar criminals are apparently able to cope with the digital world with considerable ease.
Following the news, day in day out, abusive action, corruption, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion seem to be recurring items on every day's agenda. New examples seem to crop up on a regular basis.
While the Vitals scandal is still developing, it is not news anymore. Most have already forgotten about the social benefits scandal. Currently we have the ID-scandal under the spotlight, new details coming to light almost every day.
During the past weeks we have been following the developing saga concerning the issuing of abusive identity cards and the associated identity theft on a large scale. The examples coming to light indicate the level of detail that those planning and executing this criminal activity have paid attention to.
The innovative fixing of letterboxes on third party property to facilitate the collection of mail related to this activity is mind boggling. It is a level of detail indicating the large sums of money which is being protected. The monies rumoured to have exchanged hands in this ID-scandal add up to many millions of euros.
It is also interesting to note how some homes of old people currently in institutional care were particularly targeted as easy prey. Probably someone had access to a list or lists of such persons. A detail which clearly was an important factor in planning the effectiveness of the whole ID-fraud scheme. Possibly there is a case of sensitive information finding its way into the wrong hands. Maybe the Data Protection Commissioner could have a look into the matter.
The identity theft applied to medical records is very worrying. It may have serious health consequences on those whose identity documentation and records have been compromised. Fundamentally, however, it indicates that those masterminding the abuse are now very confident that they can navigate the local administrative highway with impunity.
The number of abusive identity documents issued has been indicated as being around 18,000. A number which has been contested by the authorities, who, however, have not so far explained what (in their opinion) has actually happened. It is known that an internal inquiry, in the state agency Identità, has examined the matter and a report has been concluded and submitted to the authorities for their consideration. However, this report is still under wraps at the time of writing, leading to the inevitable conclusion that what has been uncovered by the internal investigation may be much worse than what is so far publicly known.
We have yet to ascertain the extent to which the ID-scandal will have an impact on Malta's Schengen status. This is a very serious matter which has not been given the necessary attention. In a number of instances national security may have been compromised. Even more worrying is whether there will be an impact on the electoral register, which register is dependent on the accuracy of the ID-card process.
Some months ago, the Court of Appeal, when deciding on the Vitals case, had explained the matter in very clear language. While emphasising the fraudulent nature of the hospitals' deal, the Court of Appeal had then stated that it believed that there was collusion: senior government officials were complicit in the privatisation fraud.
Collusion, as readers are undoubtedly aware, is secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy intended to deceive!
The ID-scandal may at the end of the day be found to have followed a similar pattern of behaviour: collusion. It is a collusion which entrenches impunity and further facilitates the transformation of this country into a criminal state.
So far no one has shouldered political responsibility for this mess.
An architect and civil engineer, the author is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta. [email protected] , http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com