“Back in 2001 John Rizzo was then Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). ‘Information came to me that David Gatt was communicating with one of the suspects who was later charged with the theft. Not only did he communicate more than once, but he communicated in such a way so as to give certain information as to how the suspect should act to avoid police suspicion,’ he told the court.
Rizzo said the G4S heist suspects were meeting near the Siggiewi cemetery. ‘We went to check on them. These people left the site and we – the police – followed them and I gave the order to stop them on Triq 13 December, near the Republic monument. There were two Mazda 323s, one blue, one red and one registered in the name of Carmel Camilleri, known at that time as ‘Pissipellu’. And there was George Degiorgio ‘ic-Ciniz’, from Qawra. There were three other notorious persons: there was George Briffa ‘l-Piccoli’ and Degiorgio’s brother Alfred ‘il-Fulu’.”
Then Commissioner John Rizzo had also stated that police “had monitored Carmel Camilleri ‘il-Pissipellu’ and George Degiorgio, together with Briffa and Degiorgio’s brother Alfred ‘il-Fulu’ in connection with the G4S heist. Rizzo had told the court that his ‘reliable information’ – because the Security Service transcripts were not deposited in court at first – was that Gatt had called Briffa to tell him that they found a piece of ‘the Cadbury chocolate’, ostensibly a code to indicate the police had put together part of the puzzle.”
“In his testimony, Inspector Mercieca stated that former police constables who were colleagues to David Gatt when he was stationed at the Rabat Police Station had told him that the place had become a ‘criminal club.'”
“Meanwhile, another witness – PC Jonathan Agius – was said in court to be “under threat” by David Gatt’s criminal band for having conducted a stop-search on the car of George Degiorgio aka ‘Ċiniż’, one of the former persons of interest in the investigation on the Group 4 heist of 2000.” In another article by the same MaltaToday, the version of this was: “Also mentioned in that initial court sitting was George Degiorgio iċ-Ċiniż: witness PC Jonathan Agius claimed he was feeling threatened by Gatt for having conducted a search on Degiorgio, who had been a person of interest in the Group 4 heist of 2000.”
Malta is so small. Same names coming up. Same village lawyer. Same David Gatt. Same Degiorgio brothers. Same crimes.
So many testimonies. So much detailed information.
And yet, David Gatt was acquitted from our court and the mind continues to boggle.
The Trial of David Gatt – the link with the Degiorgio Brothers
“Back in 2001 John Rizzo was then Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). ‘Information came to me that David Gatt was communicating with one of the suspects who was later charged with the theft. Not only did he communicate more than once, but he communicated in such a way so as to give certain information as to how the suspect should act to avoid police suspicion,’ he told the court.
Rizzo said the G4S heist suspects were meeting near the Siggiewi cemetery. ‘We went to check on them. These people left the site and we – the police – followed them and I gave the order to stop them on Triq 13 December, near the Republic monument. There were two Mazda 323s, one blue, one red and one registered in the name of Carmel Camilleri, known at that time as ‘Pissipellu’. And there was George Degiorgio ‘ic-Ciniz’, from Qawra. There were three other notorious persons: there was George Briffa ‘l-Piccoli’ and Degiorgio’s brother Alfred ‘il-Fulu’.”
Then Commissioner John Rizzo had also stated that police “had monitored Carmel Camilleri ‘il-Pissipellu’ and George Degiorgio, together with Briffa and Degiorgio’s brother Alfred ‘il-Fulu’ in connection with the G4S heist. Rizzo had told the court that his ‘reliable information’ – because the Security Service transcripts were not deposited in court at first – was that Gatt had called Briffa to tell him that they found a piece of ‘the Cadbury chocolate’, ostensibly a code to indicate the police had put together part of the puzzle.”
“In his testimony, Inspector Mercieca stated that former police constables who were colleagues to David Gatt when he was stationed at the Rabat Police Station had told him that the place had become a ‘criminal club.'”
“Meanwhile, another witness – PC Jonathan Agius – was said in court to be “under threat” by David Gatt’s criminal band for having conducted a stop-search on the car of George Degiorgio aka ‘Ċiniż’, one of the former persons of interest in the investigation on the Group 4 heist of 2000.” In another article by the same MaltaToday, the version of this was: “Also mentioned in that initial court sitting was George Degiorgio iċ-Ċiniż: witness PC Jonathan Agius claimed he was feeling threatened by Gatt for having conducted a search on Degiorgio, who had been a person of interest in the Group 4 heist of 2000.”
Malta is so small. Same names coming up. Same village lawyer. Same David Gatt. Same Degiorgio brothers. Same crimes.
So many testimonies. So much detailed information.
And yet, David Gatt was acquitted from our court and the mind continues to boggle.