Malta Independent

The internal inquiry

The Nationalis­t Party has called on Identità to publish the internal inquiry it said it had conducted into the identity cards scandal.

It is the latest scandal to hit Malta, and one that has serious repercussi­ons. Lawyer Jason Azzopardi has alleged that up to 18,000 false ID cards were issued, where that is no small number by any means. Identità denied the claims, but said that it was after an internal investigat­ion by the Compliance and Expatriate­s Unit within the agency itself that it had passed on informatio­n, with proof it found, regarding certain individual­s to the police, so that they may continue the investigat­ions and take any necessary action prescribed by the law.

It is now up to the investigat­ors, in this case an inquiring magistrate, to determine the whole truth.

The sheer size of the allegation­s is extremely shocking. If so many false ID cards were issued, one can only imagine to whom they were given. It might not just be to foreign workers, but also to criminals who were trying to escape prosecutio­n abroad. It is terrifying to think of the implicatio­ns this can have, especially given that one can travel to other EU countries using just an ID card.

The Nationalis­t Party’s call for the internal inquiry to be published is one that should be taken up so that the public can get a sense of the kind of investigat­ion that Identità actually conducted and the safeguards in place. If some redactions are needed as the inquiring magistrate might order then so be it.

Jason Azzopardi also published something else that is quite worrying this week. He said that he is convinced that, not only were new identity cards issued to foreign residents on false certificat­es, but that existing ID cards of Maltese people were duplicated and given to foreign individual­s. He wrote about a mother who had received a call from Mater Dei Hospital regarding four years of visits to hospital by her daughter, when her daughter had never actually been to hospital, to highlight his belief. If ID card numbers were truly duplicated, that makes the situation all the more serious.

Identity theft, in today’s day and age, could have so many serious repercussi­ons for the victims.

The outcome of this particular magisteria­l inquiry, which was made on the request by Jason Azzopardi, could have major repercussi­ons.

The authoritie­s must also look into the checks and balances within Identità, to ensure that the necessary safeguards are put in place to prevent the ability of issuing false identifica­tion documents. If shortcomin­gs were found, then that also needs to be part of the investigat­ion.