Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507818
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS reer was lacklustre until he was forced to resign in December 2021 when police interrogated him after a civil servant present- ed a forged medical certificate to get boarded out. The civil servant had appeared in front of a medical board that is unrelated to the one that assesses requests for the severe disability benefit and presented a certifi- cate signed by a psychiatrist to justify his request to be boarded out. Sources said the medical board noticed an anomaly and asked the psychiatrist for clarifications. However, red flags went up when the psychiatrist informed the board that the man was never his patient and the medical certifi- cate was never signed by him. "At this point the matter was brought to the attention of the Office of the Prime Minister that reported the case to the police and during investigations Silvio Grixti's name cropped up," the sources said. Soon after, the police asked so- cial services to provide informa- tion on benefits paid out to more than 200 individuals as the case snowballed into an elaborate racket involving the severe disa- bility benefit. Beneficiaries of this assistance receive some €450 per month. Abuse cases expected to in- crease A breakdown of numbers ob- tained by MaltaToday shows that from the 160 cases of abuse identified so far, payments had started being issued in 149 cases, while no payments had yet been made in 11 cases. All payments have now been stopped and the Social Security Department is in the process of recouping the money, which so far totals €2.3 million. One case dates back to the end of 2018, while 32 individuals started receiving the assistance in 2019. With the onset of COV- ID-19, the cases of fraud bal- looned in 2020 to 74. From the cases investigated so far, 20 go back to 2021 and 13 to 2022 but investigators believe these numbers will increase. "During the two-year COVID interlude medical board assess- ments were done remotely and applicants had to upload certif- icates online, which meant that doctors did not have original certificates in hand, making it easier for fraudsters to manip- ulate the system," the sources said. They added that most of the abuse cases flagged so far involved individuals who were struggling financially as a result of some form of disability or medical condition. Some of the fake severe con- ditions listed in the fraudulent medical certificates included ep- ilepsy, hydrocephalus (a condi- tion in which fluid accumulates in the brain, enlarging the head and sometimes causing brain damage), ALS and muscular dys- trophy. Assistance not given to every- one Not all applications for the se- vere disability assistance between 2019 and 2022 were accepted by the medical board tasked to re- view the cases. Statistics obtained from the Social Policy Ministry show that during the period, 2,738 people applied to receive the assistance. Of these, only 39% were accept- ed, or 1,056. Additional information provid- ed by the ministry shows that on- going internal investigations to stem abuse in social benefits be- tween 2019 and 2022 led to €17.6 million in savings and benefits being stopped in 4,293 cases. "The compliance division reg- ularly carries out spot checks to ensure social benefits are not abused but in the latest racket involving severe disability assis- tance things became more ap- parent when some of the medi- cal documents presented by the applicants were identical or con- tained repeated glaring mistakes indicating some form of stand- ard document that was being used by those perpetrating the abuse," a spokesperson for the ministry said. He did not want to comment on individual cases but insisted the ministry was cooperating ful- ly with the police in their inves- tigations. so far were Zejtun and Birzebbuga PAUL COCKS THE Nationalist Party knew the full extent of the benefits fraud scandal some seven weeks ago but did nothing about it because of the possible in- volvement of a number of its own MPs, MaltaTo- day has learned. Sources within the PN parliamentary group told this newspaper that in Thursday's parliamentary group meeting at the PN headquarters, Mosta MP Ivan Bartolo revealed that he had given secretary general Michael Piccinino details of the extent of the benefits fraud more than seven weeks ago. It seems Bartolo took umbrage at party leader Bernard Grech calling out MPs for being too reac- tive and complacent and not being more proactive. Sources said Bartolo confronted Grech and in- sisted that the leader could not throw out such an accusation when he (Bartolo) informed the party of the extent of the benefits fraud involving former Labour MP Silvio Grixti weeks before the details were leaked by the Times of Malta. He asked Grech why nothing was done or said about the scandal before the article appeared in the newspaper and why the party sat on the story. On 3 September, the Times of Malta reported how family doctor, Silvio Grixti, provided false medical documentation to assist people, often re- siding in strongholds of the Labour Party, in fraud- ulently obtaining monthly social benefits meant for severe disabilities they did not actually suffer from. The operation enabled claimants to receive monthly payments, averaging around €450, from the social security department Some individuals implicated in the scheme dur- ing 2019 and 2020 have asserted to police inves- tigators that they were directed to Grixti by var- ious individuals, including a Labour minister, a now-deceased PL MP, ministers' aides, and even customer care officials from the Prime Minister's office. But several sources within the PN have told Malt- aToday that rumours are rife around the corridors of the Stamperija that a few PN MPs have been identified as having referred people to Grixti. That in itself would not be illegal, but the same sources said that Piccinino had hinted within cer- tain circles that a couple of MPs might be included in criminal investigations being carried out by the police's Financial Crimes Investigations Depart- ment. When confronted by journalists, Prime Minister Robert Abela last week said that until now some 160 people had been arraigned on charges of re- ceiving severe disability payments they were not entitled to and that more individuals were expect- ed to be charged in the future. MaltaToday is informed that the PN parliamen- tary group meeting on Thursday erupted into near disarray when Bartolo revealed he had informed the secretary general of the extent of the scandal and that the party sat on it. Many MPs questioned Grech as to why the party said nothing on the matter until after The Times article was published. Grech is reported to have in- sisted that the party had no proof to go public with. Among the most vocal MPs questioning the ad- ministration's silence on the scandal were Paula Mifsud Bonnici and Claudette Buttigieg. MaltaToday reached out to Bartolo who con- firmed bringing the matter up in Thursday's meet- ing but refused to comment further on the matter. PN knew extent of benefits fraud scandal but stayed mum to hide MPs' involvement Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo (right) revealed in Thursday's parliamentary group meeting that he had informed party secretary general Michael Piccinino (left) of the full extent of the benefits fraud scandal weeks before the details were published by The Times opf Malta