There is currently no investigation by the Medical Council into the huge disability benefit fraud racket revealed last week or the family doctor and ex-Labour MP implicated in it.

The council’s president, lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, said it was awaiting the outcome of a criminal investigation, describing the situation as “early days”.

“We might get the ball rolling to start our own [investigation] if more details surface,” he said.

One of the council’s functions is to investigate allegations of wrongdoing against medical professionals and it also has the legal power to issue sanctions.

Head of the Medical Council Simon Micallef Stafrace said the council was monitoring the situation. Photo: Facebook/ Simon Micallef Stafrace

Micallef Stafrace said the council was monitoring the situation after Times of Malta revealed ‘hundreds’ of people had received thousands of euros in disability benefits they were not entitled to.

“If any doctors are mentioned by name specifically, they will be investigated accordingly,” he added.

When asked if an investigation had been opened into ex-Labour MP and popular family doctor Silvio Grixti – who was implicated in the scheme after claimants said he supplied false documents to them – he replied that the council still had to meet to discuss the matter.

No investigation into Grixti was underway, he confirmed, adding the council had only become aware of the investigation when the public did. 

Benefit claimants have implicated former MP Silvio Grixti in the racket. Photo: Facebook

Earlier this year, a court threw out Medical Council proceedings concerning another doctor-politician, PN MP Stephen Spiteri, who it was investigating for having allegedly issued medical certificates without examining patients.   

Reacting to the recent developments, council president Micallef Stafrace said the news of the case had “worried” the council because, “if true, it could mean that it has been going on for years.”

The council has faced calls to take action – not only against Grixti – but also against members of the medical board, who are responsible for assessing benefit applications before giving them the green light.

Back in 2021, Times of Malta revealed that Grixti had resigned from parliament after being interrogated by the police over irregular documents.

Earlier this month, Times of Malta exposed how he was at the centre of a racket involving potentially hundreds of people falsely claiming serious disability benefit payments.

In most cases the ‘disability of choice’ is understood to have been frequent epileptic fits.

Grixti is alleged to have given those involved an envelope containing forged medical documents confirming the condition, as well as a Transport Malta document stating that the person had given up their driving license, a requirement for those suffering from frequent seizures.

Claimants would then be assessed by a government medical board, which some told police would take just “five minutes.”

The applications presented to the board used forged signatures of several consultants.

Neurologist Anthony Galea Debono, who was one of those whose signature was forged, called for the names of the medical board’s directors to be made public and action taken against those who were found to have approved a spate of identical false documents.

The Medical Council, he said, was duty-bound to take action and could even strike doctors off the register.

The head of the Malta Medical Association Martin Balzan has also branded the racket “organised crime,” saying the scale of the operation suggested it “came from above.”

Caritas Malta Epilepsy Association committee secretary Robin Pinkston said the fraud amounted to “more than merely stealing money.”

So far, some 141 people have been ordered to return a total of €2.1 million in severe disability assistance benefits they were not entitled to, though this figure is expected to rise as the investigation continues.