Malita Investments and CEO ‘unequivocally’ deny wrongdoing in Siggiewi voters address case

Malita Investments plc and its CEO Jennifer Falzon on Wednesday denied allegations that they had instructed voters to change their addresses to Government apartments in Siġġiewi, despite them not yet being habitable.

On Wednesday, Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech reportedly declared that voters were manipulated into changing their addresses to a Government housing block in Mdina Street, Siġġiewi, ordering further investigations by the police. The request was put forward by the Nationalist Party (PN) last month, stating that it was a move by the Labour Party (PL) to usher in new votes ahead of the Local Council election in June.

Magistrate Frendo Dimech stated that according to electoral law, voters need to be registered at the locality where they actually live, and having conducted an on-site visit last week, she affirmed that there was nobody living in the apartment block.

A witness from the Identità agency stated the officials were sent on site to change the details on voters’ ID cards under the instructions of Ms Falzon, CEO of Malta Investments, a company which invests in social housing and in which Government is a majority shareholder.

According to reports, the Magistrate observed that the Identità officials on site signed a statement that a voter was living there when it was clear that the place was not habitable. Officials also testified that the tenants who had entered into promise of allocation agreements had not yet been handed the keys to the property, with them set to be given once the lease agreements were signed.

Malita Investments, which owns and manages the property, in a statement on Wednesday affirmed that the company and Ms Falzon “unequivocally deny any allegations of wrongdoing.”

“They assert that neither the company nor its CEO has been involved in the process of changing ID card addresses. No instructions were ever given to Identità agency officials on behalf of the company,” it continued.

Malita Investments stated that the only meetings organised by the company were with prospective tenants entitled to housing units, “specifically for the purpose of handing over the premises and completing the necessary forms for changes in water and electricity services.”

“The company takes these allegations very seriously and will be referring the matter to the Commissioner of Police, requesting an immediate investigation,” the statement concluded.

Over the years, Siġġiewi has been dominated by PN, yet in 2019, PL won the locality for the first time since Local Council elections started back in the 1990s.

PN General Secretary Michael Piccinino had described the change of addresses as a case of “political gerrymandering,” stating that the PN’s request was to have the people vote for the council of the locality where they were registered before the switch. PL submitted a request to intervene in the case, yet it was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.