Star witness in HSBC heist case was not Mt Carmel hospital patient

A case of mistaken identity resulted in the summoning of a witness who was supposed to testify today in the criminal charges against former police inspector David Gatt, a lawyer accused of masterminding the HSBC heist of 2010.

As Mount Carmel Hospital representative Oswald Balzan revealed, it turns out that there were two Mario Portellis receiving medical treatment at the hospital, none of whom matched the identity number of PC 99, a star witness who had given evidence against Gatt.

Gatt's defence claimed that PC 99 was a patient at the mental health hospital in 2012, in a challenge against his evidence.

Mark Scicluna's sketch of David Gatt in court.

Gatt is accused of masterminding the attempted heist of the HSBC headquarters in June 2010 and another attempted hold-up of an Attard jeweller in November that same year.

The prosecution rested on Portelli's testimony, as the police constable revealed insider knowledge of the gang Gatt was supposed to have led.

Under oath, Portelli had admitted that Gatt himself had reported the constable to the police for using the services of prostitutes while on duty. The constable had however denied having been recovered at Mt Carmel.

Portelli was described as a "liar from A to Z" by witness Raymond Abela in a sitting back in January. Portelli claims Gatt styled himself on Corleonese Mafia boss Totò Riina and that he had made Raymond Abela kiss his hand and speak to him in Italian when he dined at his restaurant. As police inspector Chris Pullicino had told the court, Gatt's number had been saved under the moniker 'Toto' in Abela's mobile phonebook.

As a former police inspector, in 2005 Gatt had instituted court proceedings over his unfair dismissal in 2001 from the force after police commissioner John Rizzo claimed that Gatt had told police suspects how to evade suspicion. Although he was accused of criminal association, Gatt's claims were upheld in 2010 when an appeals court ordered his reinstatement. A Constitutional Court later upheld a request by Gatt Gatt and two other previously dismissed men to stop the Police Commissioner from instituting fresh proceedings against them before the Public Service Commission.