Updated 1.25pm, adds Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul's reaction

One of the alleged disability benefit fraudsters who claimed he had epilepsy and had no driving licence was employed as a minister’s driver while receiving the benefit, Times of Malta can reveal.

The man, who was questioned by police over the past two weeks, was employed as a driver and security official to a member of cabinet.

He decided to quit his position a few weeks ago on his own volition, when he learnt the scam beneficiaries were being investigated and that he could be on the police’s radar.

Sources have not yet confirmed his identity and for which cabinet member he worked but they said he had been receiving the benefits since 2016.

Evidence seen by police indicates that in June that year, the man applied for the severe disability assistance benefit, claiming to suffer from more than four epileptic fits per month and that he did not hold a driving licence.

His application was approved and while receiving the benefits he was working as a driver. He was later employed in the minister’s private secretariat as a driver and security officer.

The police also suspect he was among a group of ‘fixers’ in the scam but when interrogated he chose not to reply to any questions. Police believe that the driver personally benefitted from the scheme thanks to the assistance of former MP Silvio Grixti, who is at the centre of the racket.

It is the latest revelation in the disability benefits racket that has implicated several government officials, Labour Party supporters and contacts.

Sources confirmed investigators have now begun moving up the racket’s organisational chain, arresting and questioning at least one man suspected to have helped people get the benefit fraudulently.

The man, who is now out on police bail, is suspected to have worked closely with Grixti and to have had a role in facilitating the racket.

Sources said this does not mean the police have exhausted the list of beneficiaries who were receiving fraudulent benefits. Dozens more are yet to be called in for questioning, they said.

But the people who have already been questioned and charged have provided enough information to allow police to “start moving up the chain”.

Some were even told money was coming from an EU funds package

Andy Ellul reacts

Times of Malta did not mention the minister, but, in a post on Facebook on Sunday, parliamentary secretary Andy Ellul wrote that PN sources had told him that the story was part of an attack that was being prepared against him.

If this was the case, he said, it would not lead anywhere because he was immediately putting the facts forward.

He said it was true that he had a driver who resigned but this was six months ago and not a few weeks ago as reported.

Ellul said he did not know and was not informed of any alleged abuse and noted that Times of Malta was giving dates in 2016 when he was not in Parliament and not even a party candidate.

He noted that it was the OPM which, more than two years ago had reported there was a whiff of benefit abuse enabling the police to do their duty.

Rather than play a dirty political game, the Nationalist Party should support, and not manipulate, the search for truth, he said.

Last month, Times of Malta revealed that Grixti has been implicated in a years-long racket to help “hundreds” of people fraudulently receive monthly disability benefits they were not entitled to.

Evidence indicates Grixti, a popular family doctor, provided false medical documents to help people receive social benefits averaging €450 monthly for severe disabilities they did not suffer from.

Police suspect at least one of Grixti’s close aides had a major role in the racket, but as investigations unfold, it is becoming clearer that the racket had taken a life of its own as well, with other Labour Party canvassers and activists acting as fixers in return for a €6,000 kickback.

Beneficiaries who got the benefit fraudulently told police the fixers were pushing the racket among voters, urging them to take up the “opportunity” before the money runs out or is taken by other people. They assured them they had nothing to worry about as long as the PL remained in power.

Some beneficiaries told police they were even told the money was coming from an EU funds package, a portion of which was dedicated to infrastructure and the rest earmarked to be distributed among PL supporters.

Others said they were told the doctors analysing their application on the government medical board were in on the racket as well, so there was nothing to worry about.

Some of those questioned said they were given a bottle of pills they had never seen before and told to take it to the board interview. If doctors asked, the beneficiaries were to say it was medication to treat their epilepsy.

Others told police they had an agreement with their fixer to give him the first €6,000 worth of benefits before they could start keeping the cheques for themselves.

So far, at least 160 people were found to have taken the benefits fraudulently, but police are still combing through hundreds more cases.

Grixti has yet to be charged for his suspected key role in facilitating the racket. He was, however, detained and questioned by police in connection with the alleged racket in 2021. He had resigned as member of parliament in December that year.

A laptop seized in connection with the probe helped uncover the scale and organisation of the racket.

Repubblika statement

In a statement, Repubblika said the Prime Minister had the duty to tell the people how and why corruption by a person very close to his ministry was allowed to continue for years.

It asked who was the minister who employed this person as his driver, who authorised the appointment, whether the scrutiny procedure for people to serve in a ministerial secretariat was followed, and if there were other people in ministers’ secretariats involved in this web of corruption.

Should the Prime Minister remain silent, he would be complicit in this corruption, it said, as it called on the people to take part in a demonstration in Republic Street Valletta, starting from near the Wembley Stores on Monday at 7pm.

It will be followed by a vigil on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Great Siege Square at 7.30pm.