Police investigating possible data removal from IAID head’s office

A spokesperson for Police Commissioner John Rizzo confirmed the police were investigating the deletion of emails by IT officials last week from the office of IAID director-general Rita Schembri.

The development comes after shadow minister for home affairs Michael Falzon reiterated the Opposition's call for a police investigation.

"The Police is conducting its own investigation," Rizzo's spokesperson told MaltaToday.

Schembri is out on long leave pending an inquiry by the Auditor General into a possible ethics breach. Schembri, a permanent secretary who heads the OPM's sensitive Internal and Audit Investigations Department, was revealed by a whistleblower to have been carrying out undeclared business advisory services to a casino company, from her own government office.

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday called for a police investigation into reports carried by this newspaper that IT officials had deleted emails from Schembri's system at the IAID.

"In the light of what is being alleged, it is essential that a police investigation takes place," Michael Falzon said in a statement today. "This investigation is required so that no relevant information is deleted. One hopes such action is taken immediately and in the public interest."

When contacted by MaltaToday, Falzon said it was "significant" that the Police "reacted after the statements made in the media".

Falzon argued that the Police's primary function was to "prevent crimes".

The Auditor General's inquiry was kick-started by a decision from the head of the civil service Godwin Grima, as head of the Internal Audit and Investigations Board, after reviewing MaltaToday's reports into the alleged breach of ethics by Schembri.