Man charged with issuing fake lease agreements to third-country nationals
A 56-year-old man has been accused of providing false lease agreements to third-country nationals, allowing them to obtain residence permits illegally.Harold Mamo was denied bail and remanded in custody due to concerns of evidence tampering. The Cour
A 56-year-old man has been accused of providing false lease agreements to third-country nationals, allowing them to obtain residence permits illegally.
Harold Mamo was denied bail and remanded in custody due to concerns of evidence tampering. The Court imposed a ban on the publication of the man's profession. He does not work at Identità.
Testifying against the accused, a police inspector explained that in August 2024, people began to notice that letterboxes affixed to vacant properties were filled with Identità documents for third-country nationals to collect their residence permits.
This came to light after ex-MP Jason Azzopardi exposed a racket at Identità through a series of social media posts. He later requested a magisterial inquiry, which is underway.
These properties were vacant, and the owners were unaware. In one case in Sliema, a Maltese individual told police she visited her mother's property and found a letterbox affixed to its façade, containing letters from Identità.
Information from Identità and the Housing Authority revealed five people living in the Sliema property without the owner's consent. The owner's mother was unaware of this. When questioned, the third-country nationals provided the police with Mamo's mobile number, claiming he had provided the lease agreements. A warrant for Mamo's arrest was issued, shortly after.
During the investigation, police found that Mamo used an office inside of a barbershop. They searched his residence and found €9,000 in cash, along with several lease agreements, and several third country nationals going in and out of the property to obtain lease agreements.
The defence did not contest the validity of the accused's arrest. The accused pleaded not guilty, and requested his release from arrest. The prosecution objected due to a risk of tampering evidence.
The defence argued that there are a number of witnesses which need to testify. Due to the nature of cases and the fact that the witnesses are foreigners, the defence questioned, "what contact does the accused have with these individuals?".
The Court, presided by Magistrate Charmaine Galea, upheld the prosecution's request for a freezing order on the accused's assets. However, the court is not convinced that the accused can observe all the orders obliged on him, and so denied the bail request.
The prosecution was led by lawyers Andrea Zammit and Manuel Grech for the Attorney General, and Inspectors Tonjoe Farrugia and Karl Roberts. The accused was represented by Lawyers Josè Herrera and Anita Giordimaina.
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