Police sometimes ran out of evidence bags for items lifted from crime scenes or searches and instead relied on A4 envelopes, testimony on Tuesday revealed.
The revelation emerged as a cybercrime unit police officer was being cross-examined by defence lawyer Franco Debono about the way in which he handled a laptop seized from Silvio Grixti’s office in November 2021.
“We have evidence bags, but not always,” the officer said when pushed to explain why he could not recall if the seized laptop had been placed inside a sealed evidence bag.
The admission prompted Magistrate Rachel Montebello to interject and ask if there was a particular reason evidence bags were not available.
“We would not always have ones available,” the officer said, saying police sometimes placed devices seized from crime scenes in A4 envelopes. “It was something quite new for the unit. Now the practice is more established.”
That prompted incredulity from Debono, who was carrying out the cross-examination.
“We’re talking about three years ago. This was not 1900!” he exclaimed. “Didn’t you think to ask your superiors for more evidence bags?”
The police officer said he was not prepared for the search that time and that officers had gone to Grixti’s office “with what we had in hand.”
The court stopped further questioning about the matter, saying “it’s evident now that they didn’t always have the resources.”
Testimony was being given in the case against Grixti, a family doctor and former Labour MP and four others.
The five all stand accused of having perpetuated a massive social benefit fraud which saw beneficiaries classified as severely disabled through the use of falsified documents.
Roger Agius asked OPM for whistleblower protection
During Tuesday’s hearing, the court heard that one of the co-accused, Roger Agius, sought whistleblower protection last November.
Agius’ lawyer told a court that his client had written to the whistleblower unit at the Office of the Prime Minister on November 28, offering information about the crime.
By that point, police had already investigated and prosecuted various people in connection with the racket. Times of Malta revealed details of the fraud and Grixti’s role in it in an investigation published on September 2 of that year.
Speaking in court on Tuesday, defence lawyer Jason Azzopardi said Agius had followed up his initial letter to the whistleblower unit with a reminder on December 2, then a judicial protest on March 14.
He finally met with representatives of the unit on April 8, when he made serious allegations about Mark Calleja, known as Il-Gulija.
Calleja is a person of trust of Minister Michael Falzon within his Social Affairs Ministry.
Agius has previously claimed that an official at Falzon’s ministry had assured him that “ 'As long as the minister [Michael Falzon] remains there, we will never have trouble'."
Falzon has denied any knowledge of the racket.
A court heard on Tuesday that the whistleblower unit wrote to Agius on April 26 and advised him to speak to the police about his allegations.
By then, Agius was already a criminal suspect and facing charges concerning his alleged involvement in the racket.
The police on Tuesday asked the court to direct them on how to handle Agius’ claims and testimony, given that he is now an accused person.
Prosecutors have also filed a note to cap the freezing orders in terms of recent amendments. A 90-day limit lapses on July 14. The matter is still to be decided.