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3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 AUGUST 2021 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA A top police official whose role as Economic Crimes Unit chief had come under scrutiny for the way the 17 Black allegations were handled, has been suspended from the force. Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla was formerly chief of the economic crimes unit before he was removed from the post un- der Commissioner of Police An- gelo Gafà. Abdilla was accused of hav- ing sat on evidence of criminal wrongdoing by top government officials. In a reply to questions by Mal- taToday, a police spokesperson confirmed that an official has been suspended. "The Malta Police Force has suspended a Malta Police Force official in line with the Public Service Commission Disciplinary Regulations, pending investiga- tions," he said. Abdilla had also met OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri at Castille in 2017, when FIAU reports de- tailing suspicions that Schembri was involved in criminal activity had started to leak. In the public inquiry into journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's death, Abdilla said he had been summoned to the meetings by the prime min- ister's former chief of staff, and that he had "advised" Schembri to speak to a lawyer about leaked FIAU reports about corruption and money-laundering during these meetings. Under his tenure, police claimed to have no reasonable suspicion to investigate Schem- bri or former energy minister Konrad Mizzi, who set up secret offshore companies in Panama, later found to be linked to Tu- mas magnate Yorgen Fenech and his Dubai company 17 Black. Abdilla also admitted having aborted a meeting with mur- der suspect Yorgen Fenech in November 2018 to discuss the Reuters report that revealed that Fenech owned 17 Black, because his superior Silvio Valletta - who has also left the force - had told him Fenech was sick. Fenech was arrested in Novem- ber 2019 on murder charges, with the help of Europol. Daphne Caruana Galizia's son Matthew has previously accused Ian Abdilla of abdicating his du- ties. "If my mother was murdered to prevent her from publishing evidence that was already in the hands of, or that would have eventually come into the hands of, Ian Abdilla and the FIAU, then Fenech must have been absolutely certain that Ian Ab- dilla would never press charges against him, or even conduct a full investigation, based on that same evidence," Caruana Galizia said. Abdilla inaction proves the gov- ernment has seized institutions - David Casa Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla's inaction showcases how the government has seized the in- stitutions, Nationalist Party MEP David Casa said on Facebook. The MEP said that instead of doing his duty to defend the Mal- tese and Gozitan People, Abdilla instead saw how he could protect criminals. "Time has proved me right. I have been pushing for action against Ian Abdilla for a number of months. He should be investi- gated for his actions," Casa said. "In the absence of his action, his hands are also stained with the blood of Daphne Caruana Gali- zia," he said. Assistant Commissioner who ignored 17 Black allegations, suspended from police force MATTHEW AGIUS AN amateur fisher out on his first recrea- tional fishing trip has claimed to have been rammed by a trawler belonging to Azzo- pardi Fisheries. In a Facebook post, Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur, a member of renowned band Red Electrick, said he had been fishing with his friend on a 16-foot boat roughly 10km off the coast, close to a series of fish farms owned by Azzopardi Fisheries. The incident happened last month and police confirmed the case is being investi- gated after a report was filed. However, Azzopardi Fisheries owner Charles Azzopardi denied the pleasure craft was rammed and insisted it capsized because it was caught in the wake of the fishing trawler. Azzopardi told MaltaToday the small vessel was tied to his company's fish cag- es, which is a restricted area by Transport Malta regulations. According to Spiteri Monsigneur, their boat was approached by a trawler that was going to work close by, and so they relocat- ed to another area, around 30 metres away from the fish farms. He said around 25 other small fishing boats like theirs were also in the area. "From our new spot, we could spot an- other, bigger trawler heading in our direc- tion from roughly 500m away, but did not think much of this. As he approached, we noticed the trawler was clearly planning to pass by us, but assumed the trawler would, as normally happens, pass round the smaller boats, or signal to us by a horn or a hand wave if he needed us to move, to which, again, we would have showed no objection, obviously," he continued. But the trawler did not change direction and the amateur fishermen were rammed before they could take evasive action. "The trawler headed straight onto us, colliding with us and causing the boat to capsize and all of our belongings (phones, wallets, keys, camera etc.) to drown," reads the Facebook post. The captain of the fishing trawler shout- ed at the men that it was their fault and told them not to go there again, before sailing off without attempting to assist the capsized vessel. Nobody was injured in the incident and the two men were assisted by another trawler belonging to Azzopardi Fisheries that also returned them to land. The boat suffered considerable damage. Azzopardi denies ramming incident Contacted for comment, Azzopardi Fish- eries owner Charles Azzopardi denied the ramming incident but claimed the young men had tied their small boat to a cage both fore and aft. Azzopardi said the wake of the passing fishing vessel had capsized the men's boat and he had done all he could to help them. Azzopardi said he dispatched another nearby trawler to pick them up from the sea. "We helped them and sent divers to re- cover their wallets and other items. We have it all on video," Azzopardi said, add- ing that he had given them copies of the footage and pictures. The businessman explained that the company had a problem with theft of fish from their cages, which were a restricted area under Transport Malta regulations. "There are a lot of cases of people stealing fish from us," he added. "I look at him and see my son, he's 21. I gave him the photo of the capsized boat. If I didn't want to help him, I wouldn't have done this but we have to work. There is a difference between fishing as work and as a hobby," Azzopardi said. Amateur fisher claims trawler rammed their boat near fish farm but operator gives conflicting version Ian Abdilla