Identity Malta needs to get its act together

Many were taken aback earlier this week when an MP revealed that he knew of instances in which some people were in possession of more than one identity card.

But if they were taken aback by that, they must surely be bowled over by the revelation we are publishing today that over a quarter of people from a particular sample of ID card holders were in possession of at least two, and in some instances three, identity cards.

Holding more than one valid identity card could result in not only electoral fraud, but in numerous other types of fraudulent activity that it would be best not to delve into, at least not for the time being.

The sample in question related to Maltese citizens who were born abroad but, according to sources speaking with this newspaper, the rot in the system and the opportunity for unscrupulous people to exploit the system’s loopholes and weaknesses could be far-reaching indeed.

And if there is rot in the identity card system, who is to say what other sections of Identity Malta’s operations have been similarly compromised?

Identity Malta is a vast entity and it handles the sensitive areas, among others, of identity documents, work and residence permits and the Indi- vidual Investment Programme. And each of these areas mentioned have been hit by one crisis after another over the years since it was established by the current administration.

The IIP has been riddled with problems since day one. And Identity Malta is clearly complicit in the government-sanctioned thwarting of the terms the government had agreed to with the European Commission when it sells citizenships to foreign nationals, foremost among which is the one-year residency requirement. This is, as has been reported by this newspaper on several occasions, clearly being ignored and it will only be a matter of time before those particular chickens come home to roost.

The entity was also recently embroiled in that nasty cash-for-residency permits business, which saw hundreds residency permits being given to foreign nationals under false pretences in what the Opposition labelled a clear-cut case of institutionalised corruption. It had its offices raided and personnel fired, while an accountant complicit in the scheme was charged with fraud, misappropriation of funds, money laundering and the falsification of documents by allegedly helping foreign nationals obtain residence permits through the creation of fictitious companies.

And now comes what Identity Malta insiders are referring to as a complete collapse of the identity card system. The main question to be asked now is, what’s next?

Given the breadth of Identity Malta’s operations, its systems and accountability standards need to be second to none. This is clearly not the case and the public needs to be satisfied that the holders of citizens’ private data and those who grant residency permits and passports against payment are fully accountable for any failing, intentional or not, of the systems used in such operations.

The other outstanding concern goes back, once again, to the government’s cash-for-passports programme. What with all that has transpired at Identity Malta, at least that which the public is aware of, one must seriously question the scrutiny applied to Malta’s citizens who have become Maltese against payment, and whose identities the authorities go to great lengths to keep under wraps.

It is Identity Malta that is responsible for vetting, approving and granting Maltese citizenships under the Individual Investment Programme. That agency had promised the best due diligence system in the world for the cashfor-passports system. But with due diligence having clearly failed in these other areas, one must now also question the due diligence being applied in this area as well.