Scuzzy Maltese Libyan Visa Scam & Residency Permits

ꕤ Article SOURCE http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-08-23/local-news/Joe-Sammut-former-Maltese-consul-ran-Libyan-visa-scheme-together-6736140933 Joe Sammut, former Maltese consul ran Libyan visa scheme together David Lindsay  Sunday, 23 August 2015, 11:30 Last update: about 2 months ago A former employee of the Maltese embassy’s consular section in Tripoli, speaking with this newspaper on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, has revealed that the visas for Libyans scam allegedly operated by former Maltese Consul Marisa Farrugia had been run in tandem with none other than accountant Joe Sammut. Mr Sammut was charged in court this week over a residency permits for Libyans scam he had allegedly been running. He pled not guilty to a series of charges including fraud, misappropriation of funds, money laundering and the falsification of documents. The scam saw Mr Sammut registering companies for Libyan nationals with fake stock declarations of €100,000, on the strength of which residency permits were issued. The extent of the scam was such that, this newspaper is informed, Bank of Valletta had stopped Mr Sammut from opening bank accounts for his clients back in March. Dr Marisa Farrugia, meanwhile, had been recalled from Tripoli in May 2014 over her alleged involvement in a visa scam, and was questioned by the police. The police had also seized files from the Maltese embassy in Tripoli as part of their investigations. Investigations had reportedly been initiated when Maltese companies reported that their letterheads had been falsified and used on ‘official’ invitations required for issuing business visas for Malta. The investigations had been confirmed at the time by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but news as to how those investigations panned out has not been forthcoming. Dr Farrugia was later called back to assist in the successful release of Maltese national Martin Galea, who had been kidnapped in Libya. Tripoli Embassy staff instructed to process all Sammut visa applications Speaking with The Malta Independent on Sunday following this newspaper’s recent reportage exposing the details of Mr Sammut’s visa and residency permit scheme, the former employee of the embassy’s consular section told this newspaper that of the tens of thousands of visa applications received, “The invitations we used to receive from Joe Sammut’s office for Libyan citizens to visit Malta used to amount to two-thirds of all the applicants”. The consular section’s staff, according to the former employee, was under strict instructions from Dr Farrugia to not discuss any visa invitations arriving from the office of Joe Sammut. Not only that, they were also allegedly instructed to process all the visa applications that Mr Sammut’s office was involved in without question. Moreover, the former employee claims that, “There were several irregularities on the application forms [of Mr Sammut’s clients] which she [Dr Farrugia] asked us to turn a blind eye to, and to refer them only to her.” The interference does not stop there, with the former employee stating that: “We used to receive several calls a day from Joe Sammut’s office asking us to quickly process certain names since they were VIPs.” According to the former employee’s account, Dr Farrugia would hold private meetings with the VIPs referred by Mr Sammut in her own office, and staff members were powerless to say a single word about the suspicious goings-on “since they were all threatened that they would be fired if they did so”. The former embassy staff member told this newspaper that staff had complained several times to then Maltese Ambassador Victor Camilleri, complaints that dealt mainly with what the former employee describes as “the pressure which had been applied on the staff to process certain visas and to neglect others”. The former employee explains, “At that time we felt that Joe Sammut’s office had significant privileges and very strong connections with the immigration and other Maltese authorities.” The source estimates that during 2013, the Maltese embassy’s consular section processed some 51,000 visas applications and “we knew very well at that time that most of the applications that were approved were mostly those of Libyans who had paid a hefty amount to obtain their visas”. ‘Massive amounts of money involved’ In line with previous press reports on Dr Farrugia’s alleged visa scam, which had not featured Mr Sammut’s involvement until now, the former employee asserts that “there were massive amounts of money involved in obtaining Maltese or Schengen visas from the embassy”. The former employee says that for a Maltese visa Libyan nationals paid between 1,000 Libyan dinars (€640) and LYD1,500 (€960). Schengen visas, meanwhile, were ‘sold’ at LYD2,000 (€1,280). Other reports have said that such visas at times commanded prices of up to €3,000. The former employee also speaks of an office located opposite the consul that functioned as a travel agency, which would send people to the embassy for visas, all of which, according to our source, were approved. The travel agency office was allegedly run by a certain Mr Naser, who we are told “had a very close relationship with Marisa Farrugia, and he used to spend hours in her office”. The former employee says that when Dr Farrugia was deployed to the Tripoli embassy’s consular affairs section, “the daily number of visas issued to Libyan nationals had risen to a staggering figure of three hundred to four hundred a day”. Moreover, it is alleged that Dr Farrugia, “used to be invited to private dinners with members of the ex [Gaddafi] regime, all of whom she had provided with one year to two year visas. In fact, the Libyan authorities had on several occasions complained about the massive racket of the selling of Maltese visas.” Mr Sammut is also well-known for being close to the former Gaddafi regime, and for serving as the Gaddafi family’s man in Malta, holding millions of euros on their behalf. Internal investigations into Joe Sammut scandal have already begun – PM Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, asked yesterday whether he would be opening inquiries into all the public departments involved in the Joe Sammut residency permit scandal, explained that internal inquiries had already begun and had they not, then this case would not have been uncovered. He said, “There are other ongoing investigations, including cases that did not begin now, but under other administrations. The answer is ‘yes investigations began’.” http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-08-23/local-news/Joe-Sammut-former-Maltese-consul-ran-Libyan-visa-scheme-together-6736140933 ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENTS Does it get any scuzzier than Southern Europe? ꕤ