I Was Told I Wouldn’t Be Charged If I Fired Jason Azzopardi: One Of Alleged Benefit Racket Leaders About OPM
One of the alleged leaders of the social benefits racket claimed that he was offered protection by the Office of the Prime Minister if he fired his lawyer Jason Azzopardi.
Roger Agius said that he received a verbal message from someone external on behalf of the OPM that assured he wouldn’t be charged if he “got rid” of Azzopardi as his lawyer.
He even implied that he has a recording of the conversation.
Agius made this claim while on Andrew Azzopardi’s RTK103 radio show while sitting alongside Azzopardi who was also a guest. The lawyer, former PN MP, and vocal critic of the government said that Agius would have never been found guilty because he had a “severe illness and lacked criminal intent”.
Agius, alongside four others, is facing criminal charges for his alleged role in the social benefits racket that saw people without disabilities being given monthly financial aid for years. He was the official driver to junior minister Andy Ellul.
Agius described himself as a “runner” in the fraudulent scheme and stated that in March 2023 he was still passing on applications to a high-level official in Michael Falzon’s Social Policy ministry, Mark Calleja il-Gulija.
These applications would go on to be passed and people would be falsely diagnosed with a severe disability to receive monthly benefits.
Agius said that several ministries referred people to the family doctor and former PL MP Silvio Grixti who is being charged for playing a key role in this scheme. However, Agius claimed, the real mastermind is yet to be named, adding that the police seemed uninterested in obtaining this information. He alleged that the police were instructed to only investigate Grixti and people below him.
Calleja allegedly made money from the illicit scheme, Agius claimed, even saying that board meetings wouldn’t be set up if “our doctors” weren’t present that day.
Agius went on to say that he was denied whistleblower status in exchange for information which he applied for after realising that his information was being leaked to the government – he said he has proof of this.
Lovin Malta has reached out to the OPM for a comment.
Do you think what Agius is claiming is true?
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