Court upholds request to open magisterial inquiry into alleged LESA racket

Updated at 6:30pm with LESA statement 

The court has accepted the request for a magisterial inquiry into an alleged multimillion euro racket involving top LESA officials.

In August, Jason Azzopardi had requested a magisterial inquiry after he claimed that top LESA officials were involved in a scheme to fraudulently transfer penalty points incurred by Maltese drivers onto tourist rental cars.

Through the racket, a Maltese offender's licence penalty points and fines are forgiven, while the fines are transferred to tourists' driving licences. The racket has ingeniously created a win-win situation for all involved, bar LESA, read the application.

Speaking to MaltaToday in an interview, home affairs minister Byron Camilleri had stated that he will not oppose the magisterial inquiry, and denied knowledge of the racket.

On Monday, Jason Azzopardi stated that his request was upheld, adding that unless an appeal is filed, a magistrate will be chosen to lead proceedings by the beginning of next week. 

Azzopardi appealed to anyone with “concrete information” about the racket to speak with the inquiring magistrate next week.

“I myself will be providing plenty of new information that I received last week, including evidence and testimony,” Azzopardi wrote.

LESA welcomes magisterial inquiry

Reacting to the announcement that an inquiry has been launched, LESA said it welcomes any scrutiny, saying that it never objected, and its CEO had made himself available for any investigation.

“LESA maintains that no form of abuse or actions that undermine its integrity will be tolerated. So much so that in recent years, the Agency has invested and taken various actions, including legal measures such as garnishee orders against several individuals and companies to recover due payments,” it said.

LESA said it will collaborate with any investigation.