Two officers under investigation for alleged tampering of serial offender's criminal record

The case - revealed last week by MaltaToday - is an extension of another probe that has since led to the suspension from duty of a police officer stationed at the Administrative Law Enforcemnt (ALE) unit,  who was alleged to have taken bribes from a hunter who wanted to be informed of anti-poaching raids around the island.

Eric Scicluna, 38 of Mgarr revealed to Commissioner John Rizzo last June that he paid bribes to PC Kenneth Sevasta in an apparent bid to save himself from an impending prison sentence over a charge he has to face in September for having been photographed by birdwatchers brandishing a shotgun on April 12 in Mgarr when the season was closed.

Scicluna - who is a serial offender with a number of convictions that include attempted bribery in 2005 and grievious bodily harm – was subsequently discovered to have been issued a private guard’s licence when he could have never qualified for it according to law.

MaltaToday is reliably informed that the investigations have continued today and are focusing on a close relative of suspended PC Kenneth Sevasta, who is also a constable and works at the Police Records department.

Scicluna’s criminal record was reportedly tampered in a way that he could apply with the Commissioner of Police to have a license issued, while he also benefitted from a written recommendation by a high ranking officer who considered him a “reliable person.”

 Scicluna – who has since been placed on forced leave pending a full investigation – refused to comment to MaltaToday when contacted.

“I don’t want to say anything, because the matter is between me and the Commissioner,”  an irritated Scicluna told MaltaToday, when asked to explain how he managed to deceive so many departments to get himself a job as a private security guard.

Despite all his prior 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.

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.