Police inspector in wrongful prosecution was investigated over 2007 arson

A police inspector at the heart of the mistaken arraignment of Daryl Luke Borg on a hold-up is now facing internal scrutiny by the police force over allegations that he may have contacted Borg prior to his testimony in a police inquiry.

The police board launched an inquiry last week into Borg's wrongful prosecution, which led to him spending two days in detention at the Mount Carmel forensic unit.

MaltaToday is informed that the police are investigating allegations that Taliana, who arraigned Borg together with three other police inspectors, may have talked to him before Borg gave his testimony to the police board.

Information received by this newspaper has confirmed that Taliana was previously investigated by the former Police Commissioner, John Rizzo, in connection with the arson attack on MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan's residence in 2007. On other occasions he was investigated over his alleged association with criminals.

Documents seen by MaltaToday have confirmed that these investigations took place.

Taliana has now sued MaltaToday for libel, claiming the article appearing in MaltaToday Midweek's front page was defamatory and damaged his reputation, and that he was never spoken to by his superiors over any arson attacks. Lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel signed the libel suit. MaltaToday did not state that Taliana was interrogated by police investigators.

Police inspector Elton Taliana was one of four police inspectors who remanded Borg, 27, in custody and charged him with a hold-up inside a Birkirkara store on 8 August.

The other inspectors were Keith Arnaud, Joseph Mercieca and Carlos Cordina. A day later, the police arraigned Roderick Grech, 22, of Birkirkara, who pleaded guilty to the crime and was condemned to a 12-month jail term (suspended for four years) and placed under a supervisory order.

The police cock-up led Opposition Home Affairs spokesman Jason Azzopardi to call for resignations and for political responsibility to be assumed. Later Azzopardi revealed that Borg had met Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia's Chief of Staff, Silvio Scerri, together with his mother and an associate - none other than Charles 'Zambi' Attard, who had been convicted in 1994 on charges of the attempted assassination of Richard Cachia Caruana, the prime minister's personal assistant.

The government has claimed that Scerri was unaware of who Attard was, that he met Borg because the minister was not in Malta and that there had been a request for the meeting.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has stood by Scerri, stating that the home affairs ministry was 'duty-bound' to listen to what the victim of the mistaken arraignment had to say.

News that Inspector Taliana may have been in contact with Daryl Luke Borg before his deposition to the police board set off alarms at the police HQ, a source told MaltaToday.

Elton Taliana entered the police force on 24 March 2000 and was subsequently detailed with Tonio Borg, the then-home affairs and justice minister, on 2 December 2002 as a security officer. He was promoted to sergeant in 2004 and inspector in 2008, even though he was investigated on different occasions and on separate allegations. On his personal LinkedIn profile, Taliana states that he is detailed at the Malta Information Technology Agency.