Police widen investigations into serial offender who tricked Commissioner to obtain private security guard license

Investigations into alleged bribery within the police Administrative Law Enforcement unit have widened over the past hours, with more officers placed under investigation for allegedly being ‘on the take’.

Further investigations were launched by Police Commissioner John Rizzo after this paper also revealed how the same hunter evaded internal security checks and was granted a police license to work as a private guard with a known security firm.

A private guard’s license in the name of hunter and serial offender Eric Scicluna, 38 of Mtarfa, appears to have been fraudulently issued when another constable tampered with his conduct sheet and allegedly issued a certificate with a clean criminal record.

Scicluna reportedly also obtained a signed recommendation to work as a private security guard from a high ranking police officer who went on to say that the man was a “reliable character.”

The revelation caused immense embarrassment to the Police Commissioner who ultimately approved the license, unknowing of the fact that a series of fraudulent events had unfolded.

MaltaToday questioned the police and the ministry of home affairs over the anomaly of the issuance of such a license that permitted Eric Scicluna to be employed by a security firm that placed him as a guard at Mater Dei Hospital.

Scicluna – who has since been placed on forced leave pending a full investigation has had a string of convictions by the Magistrates Court that include attempted bribery of a public officer in 2005, and grievous bodily harm on four persons at sea in August 2009.

Despite these convictions, no red flags were raised when the Commissioner of Police issued the licence to Scicluna.

Earlier this year, Eric Scicluna was fined €6,000 after being found guilty by a court for illegal hunting at sea, and now faces a minimum six months’ imprisonment as he will be charged next month for illegal poaching last April.

Eric Scicluna was interrogated at length in June and July by Police Commissioner John Rizzo over the bribery case, and was made to confront a number of officers belonging to the ALE unit.

PC Kenneth Sevasta has been suspended from duty, while his wife who is also a police officer and works in the police records department has been placed under investigation. Another two officers have been disciplined for minor charges related to Eric Scicluna's revelations.  

It is understood that Scicluna decided to reveal his bribes in a bid to save his face after learning that he was facing jail time for relapsing after being identified with a shotgun by bird watchers in the Mtarfa area on April 12.

The news rocked the entire police force as a number of officers spoke to MaltaToday about what was happening inside the ALE unit and revealed how police chiefs were reportedly told months ago by their subordinates that they had a ‘rat’ within their unit who informed hunters on raids.

“We had told our superiors many times that somebody amongst us was being quite funny, as on almost each raid we carried out, we found the hunters literally waiting for us…” a police constable told MaltaToday, adding that it was “impossible for anybody not to notice what was going on.”

The policeman was speaking under anonymity as further investigations are still ongoing.

“Some of the hunters would greet us with smiles,” the policeman explained. “They enjoyed embarrassing us in front of the bird watchers, and in many cases there would be little we could do because the illegal hunters would have had enough time to hide their weapons and pretend they were in the fields for a picnic.”

This situation was corroborated by BirdLife Malta director Tolga Temuge who explained that “since BirdLife Malta started conducting systematic surveillance operations, we have been noticing specific cases on particular persons or areas where the police response (district or ALE) was either null nor inefficient.”