Busuttil demands police investigation into Gaffarena expropriation

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil demanded an immediate investigation by the police into the expropriation of Old Mint Street and other property in the Gaffarena case.

“This is unacceptable. I call on the Police Commissioner to investigate the Gaffarena scandal without further delay,” the PN leader said on Twitter.

This is unacceptable. I call on the Police Commissioner to investigate the Gaffarena scandal without further delay. https://t.co/rx5xcLicAf

— Simon Busuttil (@SimonBusuttil) February 10, 2016

He was reacting to reports by the Times of Malta that the raid at the government property department (GPD) last month was not part of a police investigation.

The raid was “an operation to secure documents that will be seen by the Commission” – a reference to the board set up by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to oversee the GPD’s administration.

Judge Lawrence Quintano was appointed to lead the interim board to oversee the transitional period. The Police Commissioner was asked to increase surveillance and security at the Lands Department office in Valletta where sensitive documents pertaining to the case are held.

The morning after former lands junior minister stepped down in the wake of a damning report by the National Audit Office – and corroborated by an IAID investigation – GPD staff found police officers inside the central yard of the Auberge de Baviere offices in Valletta, as the Commissioner of Police prepared to take charge of the stalled operations at the beleagured offices.