'Brains' behind police overtime racket jailed for five years

Norman Xuereb, a police officer once described as the brains behind an overtime racket, was jailed for five years on Monday.

The racket was first revealed by Times of Malta in 2020, after a whistleblower sent an anonymous letter to then-police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.

The case involved police officers falsely claiming overtime for work linked to the Marsa flyover project. The probe initially focused on the police force's traffic section but was later broadened to other police departments.

Dozens of police officers were later arrested for their roles in the affair, with others resigning from the force.

Investigators later identified Xuereb, a police officer since 1996, as one of the key players in the case, saying he had been the person who met with Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta to discuss payments.

Xuereb was initially suspended from the force but later given a job as part of a team of stewards patrolling the streets of Valletta. It is not clear if he remains suspended or returned to the force. 

On Monday, Xuereb was found guilty of fraud and making false declarations, with Magistrate Marse Ann Farrugia handing down a five-year sentence.

In court sittings, it emerged that Xuereb, a sergeant, had received €53,000 for extra duty works related to the Marsa flyover project in 2018 and 2019.

Xuereb admitted in court that the extra duty shifts had never been carried out and that he would not verify that the police officers scheduled to be on overtime duty were actually present during their shifts.

The court found that Xuereb had certified invoices for work that was never carried out, creating a false paper trail linked to the project.

Aside from fraud, Xuereb was also found guilty of carrying out a crime he was duty-bound to prevent.

The court ordered that the €53,000 made by Xuereb through the crime be confiscated, with the same amount returned to the police corps.