From the Romanian press: “Scandal in Malta with a former minister married to a Romanian”

Published: May 5, 2015 at 2:09am

codruta mallia

In translation:

SCANDAL IN MALTA WITH A FORMER MINISTER MARRIED TO A ROMANIAN

By Gabriela Antoniu, 4 May

Former Maltese Interior Minister Manuel Mallia allegedly used his position as minister to give Maltese citizenship to his wife Elena Codruţa, a Romanian woman, three years earlier than required by law for foreigners married to Maltese.

The Malta Independent newspaper is very angry because the current Minister of Interior has avoided answering questions related to the case of the Mallia spouses.

The Malta Independent has found that while the couple were married in July 2012, Manuel Mallia’s wife became a Maltese citizen two years later, in 2014, and not after five years of marriage, as required by law where the spouse is a foreigner.

At the time Elena Codruţa Mallia received Maltese citizenship, Manuel Mallia was minister responsible for citizenship. The Malta Independent writes that, despite these revelations, the current Maltese Interior Minister has ignored questions about the matter, saying only that “Ms Mallia, who was already a European Union citizen, received citizenship in accordance with Maltese law”.

The newspaper commented that such a vague answer to specific questions cannot be explained only by an attempt to cover up the case, but could also be an exercise in damage limitation in an embarrassing situation for the government.

A newspaper reporter began to investigate this case after an article published in March showed that the Health Ministry is involved in a legal dispute with the former minister ‘s wife, Elena Codruţa Mallia nee Cristian. Mallia refused to pay an invoice from Mater Dei Hospital for 3,000 euros.

Subsequently, she received a demand for payment and the banks received a garnishee order on her accounts. Only one account in her name was found at a local bank, which held 2,221 euros. Elena Codruţa Mallia challenged the withdrawal of that money and brought as evidence a copy of her passport, saying that the person required to pay the hospital bill does not bear her name.

In this context, journalists discovered that Elena Codruţa Mallia received Maltese citizenship earlier than required by law. They note that at the beginning of 2014, she still had an identity card number ending in A, which means that she was a resident alien.