Hundreds of police officers raided 20 different properties across the country, arresting several people, including party officials, and seizing records.

The police financial crimes unit had received credible evidence that a powerful business magnate had conspired with politicians of the ruling party to rig lucrative public contracts – and the police swooped.

The prices of public contracts were artificially inflated. Those contracts were then awarded to the business magnate who made sure party officials got their cut. His lawyers constructed elaborate offshore financial structures to help politicians hide their dirty money.

Dressed in designer suits, his hair slicked back, the business mogul picked up the bills of cabinet members. He lavished them with gifts – wads of cash on their birthday and holidays abroad.

Corrupt ministers embarked on massive infrastructural projects, including road constructions and other unnecessary developments. The contracts for those projects were used to siphon off millions into the pockets of politicians as well as into a secret slush fund for the ruling party.

The police raids caused a political earthquake as party officials and MPs were caught in the investigation. The party was thrown into chaos and resignations swiftly followed. In a damage control exercise, the party held a press conference denying wrongdoing and claiming to be a victim of “an unprecedented attack on the party”.

But revelations about close links bet­ween the party leadership and the business magnate galvanised national anger against corruption. Public squares were thronged with protestors.

A national newspaper published the handwritten accounts of the party’s treasurer, recording the tens of thousands of euros delivered personally in envelopes of €500 notes to senior party figures.

In October 2016, 36 people were brought before the courts. After three years in pretrial detention, the business magnate testified how he would take suitcases full of cash to party headquarters. The prime minister had to testify. He denied any knowledge of his party’s involvement in the corruption but his name was listed on the party treasurer’s ledger as having received cash.

On May 24, 2018, the business magnate was sentenced to 52 years in jail for bribery, money laundering, tax fraud and misappropriation of public funds. Another 26 defendants, including two party treasurers, party mayors, the party secretary, an MP and a string of party councillors were sentenced to a total of 300 years in prison for the same crimes. The party itself was convicted as a direct beneficiary of the corrupt scheme. The prime minister’s testimony was deemed “not credible” by the court.

The public was outraged. The prime minister and his party were ousted from power within 24 hours.

Sadly, all that was in Spain, not Malta. That prime minister was Mariano Rajoy and the party the People’s Party. That business magnate was Francisco Correa. And that was the Spanish police not Angelo Gafà’s force.

Our police have been receiving credible evidence of corruption for years. But no nationwide raids took place. Most recently, Arnold Cassola presented the police with evidence of a multi-million corruption scandal relating to the Marsa flyover involving Joseph Muscat’s close ally and protégé, Fredrick Azzopardi and the ubiquitous Yorgen Fenech.

The National Audit Office concluded that Fenech’s Electrogas bid did not comply with minimum requirements to win the lucrative contract on “multiple instances”. The final assessment that awarded the contract to Electrogas was overseen by Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna and two other employees of Nexia BT, the company that set up Keith Schembri’s and Konrad Mizzi’s secret Panama companies.

Corruption is the system under Labour- Kevin Cassar

Times of Malta revealed that Fenech’s company 17 Black made millions off Enemalta’s Mozura windfarm deal. The usual suspects featured in that scam too – Mizzi, Fenech and Muscat.

Times of Malta also revealed the lavish hospitality Muscat, then prime minister, and former minister Edward Zammit Lewis enjoyed at the Evian Les Bains Hilton hotel in the French Alps, owned by Fenech. Muscat travelled with Fenech and Schembri to attend the Pilatus Bank chairman’s wedding in Tuscany. Fenech travelled to Las Vegas with former MFSA chief Joseph Cuschieri.

Schembri, Muscat and Fenech had a private WhatsApp chat group. Muscat ordered Schembri to get in touch with Fenech on the eve of his arrest. Whats­App messages between Fenech and Zammit Lewis, then tax commissioner Marvin Gaerty, and former Planning Authority boss Johann Buttigieg have also been exposed by the media. A Labour MP accepted thousands of euros in cash from Fenech. A minister pleaded with Fenech to find jobs for his constituents.

A Labour linked company, BED Ltd, drew up a consultancy agreement with Fenech that would see him pay €200,000. BED Ltd invoices on ONE’s address were sent to Fenech for thousands of euros.

And what did Malta’s police do about the slew of revelations? Have we seen any massive raids across the country in an attempt to seize evidence? Have we seen any criminal investigations by Gafà’s force into any of these cases – Mozura, Electrogas, Marsa flyover? Have we seen any investigations into the thousands of euros that Rosianne Cutajar received from Fenech? Has Labour’s ONE or its ħamrun headquarters been raided? Malta’s police has not only failed to act but has allowed plenty of time for all evidence to be destroyed.

Labour’s government has done everything in its power to prevent facts relating to the cases from surfacing. Infrastructure Malta has just issued a blanket refusal to Cassola’s freedom of information request for documents relating to the Marsa flyover scam.

These were not isolated cases of corruption. This is sytemic corruption. Corruption is the system under Labour. And despite the regular revelations of Labour’s links to Fenech and the suspicious deals in which he was involved, our catatonic police force conveniently looks away.

Meanwhile, Spain’s police continue searching for money stolen from the state, expanding their search to 15 countries. Ten separate trials continue to rumble in the Spanish courts and more politicians face decades in jail.

When Robert Abela tells you the institutions are working, remember Spain... and despair over Malta.

Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.