Court freezes €1.4 million in assets belonging to former Labour MP Silvio Grixti

The court has ordered that €1.4 million in assets belonging to former Labour MP Silvio Grixti remain frozen as criminal proceedings continue in the social benefits fraud scandal that has shaken the Labour government for the past three years.

In a decree published under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the court ruled that the assets subject to a freezing and seizing order against Grixti should now be limited to €1,414,364.

The court also revised freezing orders against several other accused linked to the same racket, including Roger Agius (€53,398), Emanuel Spagnol (€52,000), Dustin Caruana (€36,000), and Luke Saliba (€47,000).

However, the overwhelming majority of the frozen assets remain tied to Grixti, the former Labour backbencher and family doctor who stands accused of being at the centre of one of Malta’s largest alleged social benefits fraud schemes.

The revised order follows an earlier decree issued in April 2024 by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, who had originally ordered the blanket freezing of all movable and immovable property belonging to the accused as part of an ongoing criminal proceedings.

That ongoing case centres on claims that fraudulent medical certificates were systematically issued to help individuals obtain disability benefits they were not entitled to receive.

Investigators believe the racket may have cost taxpayers millions of euros over several years.

Grixti resigned from parliament in December 2021 after the police questioned him in connection with the investigation.

Once considered a loyal Labour Party figure and a politically influential family doctor in the south of Malta, he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The case has proved politically explosive because of the repeated references in court testimony to Labour Party structures and intermediaries.

Beneficiaries who testified in court described being referred to the scheme through Labour canvassers, PL clubs, political activists and individuals linked to ministries and government offices.

The case has fuelled allegations that the disability benefits system was exploited through political patronage networks operating close to the governing party.

No serving Labour minister has been charged, and the Labour Party has denied institutional involvement in the racket.

Still, the scandal has continued to cast a shadow over the government, particularly as evidence presented in court repeatedly exposed links between several accused individuals and Labour’s electoral machinery.

The compilation of evidence against Grixti and the other accused is still ongoing.