Mafia boss son-in-law given ID card 'before police told of arrest warrant'
The police said action was taken 'immediately' after the arrest warrant was received
An Italian resident of Malta linked to a notorious mafia crime boss was issued with an ID card before the police were made aware of a European warrant for his arrest, the police have said.
The statement follows claims by political party Momentum on Saturday that Antonio Ciavarello, the son-in-law of mafia crime boss Toto Riina, was issued with a Maltese residency card and VAT number while subject to a European Arrest Warrant.
The party said Ciavarello had been issued with an ID card in March 2022, around eight weeks after Italian authorities issued the warrant.
In comments to Times of Malta, however, the police force said it had only been notified about the arrest warrant almost two years later, in December 2023, upon which the man was arrested "within weeks".
Ciavarello was arrested in February 2024 following collaboration with Italian authorities, “which was concluded successfully within a few weeks of receipt of the European Arrest Warrant”, the police said.
The police “acted immediately” upon receipt of the warrant, coordinating with the Attorney General to obtain necessary documents and clarifications from Italian law enforcement, the statement said.
All requirements for the man’s arrest were completed by the end of January 2024, with Ciavarello’s arrest taking place the following month.
The police noted that as EU citizens, Italians enjoy freedom of movement within the Schengen Area.
Ciavarello and his wife initially lived in Buġibba after moving to Malta, before relocating to Mosta. In January 2022, Italian authorities issued an international arrest warrant against him for alleged Mafia-related activities.
In the intervening years, Ciavarello was issued a resident card and VAT number (MT26687627) linked to a Malta-registered company, AC Trade, Momentum claimed.
Toto Riina’s Malta links have come to the fore in recent weeks following allegations the mafia boss, nicknamed “the beast” due to his ruthless use of violence, had lived in a Gozo seafront property that Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo now holds the title to.
Refalo claimed he did not know who Riina was when confronted on camera about the issue by an Italian journalist as part of an investigative TV programme aired on RAI 3's Lo Stato Delle Cose.
The programme follows a news report in La Stampa, which said Riina had hidden from Italian authorities in a sea-view villa in Qala, now owned by the minister.
Responding to the claims, Refalo said he does not own the house but has leased it since 2002, nine years after Riina was arrested.
Riina was considered one of Sicily's most dangerous mafia bosses, leading the Corleonesi crime syndicate in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time he declared a “war against the state”.
He is believed to have ordered the murder of up to 200 people, including most famously the anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.