Threatened police officers ordered to stand guard outside fugitive Fabio Psaila's home

Two police officers who have been clearly identified as ‘possible targets’ for vendetta after foiling a multi-million armed heist on the HSBC Bnak headquarters in Qormi last June, have been ordered to  a ‘fixed point’ guard outside the home of fugitive Fabio Psaila.

Psaila - who is wanted over a number of armed heists in the wake of the recent arrest of former police inspector David Gatt who has been charged with masterminding the thefts – is the same suspect who according to star witness PC99 Mario Portelli, expressed his intention to “vindicate” the two officers for foiling the heist.

The suspect was echoing David Gatt’s anger at the officers who foiled the heist.

Last Thursday, PC Portelli said: “I met a very depressed David Gatt after the HSBC heist and while we were later joined by Fabio Psaila, he said that they made him lose €6 million, as he had planned the heist in such detail and had been preparing  for it for over five months with inside help.”

Portelli also added, that both David Gatt and Fabio Psaila specifically mentioned the two officers as their targets to be paid back for “ruining the operation.”

To the surprise of many within the police force, both officers who had responded to the tip-off on June 30 on a suspicious car outside the HSBC headquarters in Qormi, and were subsequently involved in a dramatic shootout with the criminals, have now been ordered to stay outside Fabio Psaila’s home.

Recent reports on Fabio Psaila’s whereabouts required at least seven mobile squad cars with armed officers who searched homes and garages in Kalkara, Bormla, Isla, Fgura and Hamrun.

Meanwhile PC99 Mario Portelli has been transferred from the traffic department to the mobile squad, replacing the two officers who are now stationed outside Fabio Psaila’s home.

In his testimony last Thursday, PC Portelli revealed how David Gatt was obsessed by the Corleonese mafia and styled himself to Totò Riina, known as the ‘boss of bosses’ who was captured by the Italian police in 1993 after 23 years on the run.

He said that David Gatt nicknamed Fabio Psaila as “Leoluca Bagharella” – Riina’s brother-in-law and right hand man, known to be the executor of numerous judges, magistrates, politicians and journalists during the 1980’s and 1990’s.