Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/630594
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 JANUARY 2016 News 7 TIM DIACONO POLICE Commissioner Michael Cassar insisted that the police did well to await the findings of a Na- tional Audit report before they themselves started investigating the expropriation of half a house by Marco Gaffarena. Police on Thursday swooped on the Lands Department's offices to commence their investigations into the expropriation, and Cassar insisted on Radju Malta's Ghandi Xi Nghid that "every relevant file is now under lock and key". Questioned by host Andrew Az- zopardi as to why he didn't order a parallel investigation when the controversy first erupted several months ago, Cassar admitted that the Auditor General had better resources at his disposal than the police to investigate potential eco- nomic crimes. "It would be presumptuous of me to claim that the police economic crimes unit is better equipped than the National Audit Of- fice or the Internal Audit and Investiga- tions Department (IAID) to inves- tigate economic crimes," he said. Cassar warned that the economic crimes unit is under- staffed, manned by a mere five police offic- ers, despite economic crime "being the most prevalent type of crime". "Economic crime investigations are complex and voluminous, and officers sometimes must read up to 50,000 documents for one case alone, which is no joke for such a small staff. Moreover, they must continuously deal with all the new cases that pour in." As such, he said he plans to add four more police officers to the ECU as soon as they complete their university courses at the end of the month. Such recruitments would be over and above the account- ants, auditors and other non-police professionals that the unit would employ according to a budgetary measure. Cassar insisted that the ECU must treat with equal importance cases of fraud – regardless of the amounts of money involved. "In the United Kingdom, po- lice won't even look at a report on fraud if the money involved is un- der €5,000," he said. "However, it's my policy to treat cases of alleged fraud with equivalent importance – whether it's €10 million or €1,000." Union boss crosses line Cassar defended the police force's decision to prosecute officers for allegedly injuring a 12-year-old boy while stopping him dur- ing one of his notorious joyrides in Hamrun. "I can assure you that investiga- tions [in this case] took place as they were meant to," he said. "Be- fore the police decide to charge an- yone in court, we are legally obliged to present our evidence to the At- torney General, who then gives us directions on how to proceed." Police Officers' Union president Sandro Camilleri has harshly criti- cised the decision to prosecute the officers as "ridiculous" and insists that the young joyrider sustained his injuries by knocking his head against the steering wheel or on some other part of the car. "If the police officers really beat up the boy the first time, then why would he have gone out joyriding only three days later?" he ques- tioned. However, Cassar warned that Camilleri "spoke out of line" by jumping to the defence of the ac- cused officers. "With all due respect, Camilleri's duty is to focus on trade union is- sues, and perhaps he doesn't yet know when he has crossed the line. Police unionism is still a relatively new concept." When put to him by Azzopardi that Camilleri was protecting the interests of police officers, Cassar retorted that "if there's anybody out there who defends the interests of police officers it's myself". 'Youth workers in Paceville unlikely to make a difference' Andrew Azzopardi – a youth studies lecturer – proposed on his show that youth workers be de- ployed at every Paceville nightclub, tasked with trying to cool down ar- guments before requesting police assistance if the situation gets out of control. However, the police commission- er quickly shot down this proposal. "If the police are deployed in Paceville to stop fights, then it's bet- ter that they get involved from the start," he said. "Besides, it is highly unlikely that youth workers would be able to calm down fighters; these often don't even calm down when they see the police approaching." He said that police have been de- ploying 30 officers to Paceville eve- ry Friday and Saturday night since the PlusOne tragedy, that brutally exposed the long-standing problem of underage clubbers. The 30 officers – over and above the CID and drug squad deployed to the area – are rotated every weekend. "Every night, we like to deploy a mix of seasoned police officers who have long experience of Paceville, with younger officers," he said. However, he insisted that the police should not be considered responsible for every tragedy that occurs, using the PlusOne incident as an example. "Police aren't health and safety ex- perts and shouldn't be held respon- sible for the security of nightclubs, although of course they are duty- bound to take action if they notice flaws within it," he said. "Whenever a nightclub, café or shop applies for a licence, every relevant department must first check that everything is in order and then leave it up to the police to ensure that order is kept. That's how harmony should work." Commissioner of Police defends delay in force's investigation of Gaffarena case Union president 'doesn't know where to draw the line' MATTHEW VELLA A bid by the Libyan Attorney Gen- eral to take control of millions in assets believed to be held in Malta by the guardians of the Gaddafi fortune, is being dragged out in court after the 'wrong' witness was called in to testify. Pierre Mallia told the court that he was no longer director of proto- col and consular affairs at the for- eign ministry, after he was request- ed by the respondents to the case to confirm whether the Libyan AG's appointment of lawyer Shaheryar Ghaznavi was recognised by the Maltese government. The Libyan AG – one of the few executive offices that enjoys the recognition of both the Tobruk and Tripoli governments in strife-torn Libya – is trying to take ownership of Muatassim Gaddafi's wealth, held by two Maltese companies. The son of dictator Muammar Gaddafi died in 2011 when he was captured by anti-Gaddafi forces, and executed along with his father. Libya's claims are being op- posed by Safia Farkash Gaddafi, the 63-year-old widow now living in Oman with sons Hannibal and Mohammad, and daughter Aisha. Safia Farkash's lawyer, Harris Oikonomopoulos, is opposing the Attorney General's claims to the "millions" that could be held under Muatassim's companies Capital Resources and Mezen Internation- al, which at one point were man- aged in Malta by Joe Sammut, the former Labour Party treasurer. Sammut is currently facing crim- inal procedures for facilitating the residency permits of Libyan na- tionals by registering companies for them with false stock. In the proceedings before Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, Oikono- mopoulos has also claimed that Muatassim had another heir: his hitherto unknown wife Lisa van Goinga, a Dutch glamour model, and her son. No proof of marriage or paternity have yet been present- ed in court. The lawyer has previously in- sisted in a Huffington Post blog he penned that Safia Farkash had en- trusted him to "defend the future of her murdered son's minor child and wife." He also wrote of Safia Farkash's "frustration, anger and embarrassment", allegedly living on "less than a thousand US dol- lars to spare" while still being pre- sented as being worth billions. Muatassim Gaddafi was the sole shareholder in Capital Resources Ltd, set up in June 2010 by audi- tor Joe Sammut to hold all assets under Gaddafi's assumed name Muatasimbllah Muammar Abu- minyar. Also registered at the same ad- dress as Capital Resources was Mezen International, the company in whose name Muatassim was is- sued with a Bank of Valletta Visa Platinum Card. In Malta, payments of €50,000 were effected in one sin- gle deposit to zero his maxed-out credit card. crimes unit is better equipped than my policy to treat cases of alleged duty is to focus on trade union is- they see the police approaching." That's how harmony should work." Attorney General's claims to the "millions" that could be held under Muatassim's companies Capital Resources and Mezen Internation- al, which at one point were man- aged in Malta by Joe Sammut, the former Labour Party treasurer. trusted him to "defend the future of her murdered son's minor child and wife." He also wrote of Safia Farkash's "frustration, anger and embarrassment", allegedly living on "less than a thousand US dol- lars to spare" while still being pre- Gaddafi cash-hunt slows down in court Police Commissioner Michael Cassar (above) and (left) police union president Sandro Camilleri Muatassim Gaddafi