Updated 7.45 pm with Identitá reply
The Green Party has rekindled concerns about a widespread identity card scam and joined calls for Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to resign.
In a press conference, ADPD leader Sandra Gauci and secretary general Ralph Cassar both criticised Camilleri’s handling of the issue and said it appeared he had not comprehended the gravity of the alleged scandal.
“Byron Camilleri needs to be removed immediately. We know his true worth now,” Gauci said.
ADPD’s calls come on the back of claims that as many as 18,000 identity cards were falsified with the help of officials at state agency Identitá.
The claims, first made by lawyer Jason Azzopardi, are now being probed by a magistrate. Identita and Camilleri, who is politically responsible for the agency, have claimed that the allegations are overblown.
They say that in many of the cases flagged, the issues stemmed from people providing third parties with false personal information when applying for goods or services, not falsified ID cards.
ADPD speakers said on Saturday that the allegations were especially concerning because Malta was within the EU’s Schengen Zone and its ID cards therefore allowed free movement across Schengen countries.
“It is highly unlikely that such a large volume of documents containing false information could have been produced without a well-planned, orchestrated effort involving multiple individuals and substantial amounts of money, as has been claimed on several occasions,” ADPD secretary general Cassar said.
“Additionally, it is probable that the people involved believed that they could get away with it despite the high level of risk involved,” he added.
Party leader Gauci said those responsible had to be made to pay and not let off with a “slap on the wrist”.
“Nothing and nobody are protected anymore except those who steal and embezzle. The citizen is bereft of any form of protection from any possible angle because the institutions that were supposed to look out for the interests of the citizen have now taken advantage of the situation and stripped citizens of everything, including their identity,” she said.
“Everyone who is involved needs to pay dearly and justice needs to be harsh with them. We can no longer brush off the responsibilities of those who weave this deceptive net for gain from the backs of people who are probably desperate and believe that this is the way things are done, when in fact this was another institutionalized yet illegal way to make money from foreigners who thought they would find a better life in our country.”
Identitá reaction
Identità said ADPD’s claim regarding 18,000 people being given identity cards with false information is untrue and that the authority has already denied and explained this, saying “the investigation has to do with residency permits and not identity cards as ADPD had said earlier today.”
The authority's compliance team has internal verification systems in place which it applies consistently and continues to strengthen and complement its processes with a number of measures.
In fact, a case related to residency permit, which is different to an identity card was forwarded to the police following an internal investigation with all the necessary evidence against a number of individuals for the police to take the necessary action afforded by the law.