218News obtained an exclusive document revealing an official invitation by the Government of National Accord via its foreign ministry, to the Maltese fraudster “Gafa” to visit Libya on November 7, 2018, contrary to what GNA tried to say about that visit – a personal one – which sparked widespread controversy at the time.
The story began on November 20, 2018 – that is, about two weeks after the date of the invitation documented in the exclusive document – when GNA published through the platforms of its official ministries details of meetings held by officials with the so-called “Neville Gafa” in his capacity as adviser to the Maltese Prime Minister for Middle Eastern Affairs backed by photos, which is what “Gafa” denied altogether.
The door to controversy over the truth about this personality was opened wide after a spokesman for the Maltese Prime Minister’s office confirmed that Gafa had not held any official meetings in Libya on behalf of the Maltese government, while the Times of Malta newspaper quoted Gafa as saying that his visit to Libya was not official and he went to it like any ordinary person.
The situation, which was described as an embarrassing security breach of the sovereignty of the state, embarrassed both the Ministry of Interior and Health, and the office of the member of the Presidential Council Ahmed Maitiq, as they all received the Maltese fraudster who was said to have claimed to be a personal envoy and adviser to the Maltese Prime Minister.
In an attempt to remove as much embarrassment as possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement confirming that it had no knowledge of the Maltese citizen “Gafa” who visited Libya and was presented by Libyan official bodies as an adviser to the Maltese Prime Minister, and went further when it stressed that receiving Foreign Envoys without coordination from the relevant authorities, as happened with the Maltese citizen, is a flagrant violation of the state and a violation of its sovereignty.
The mysterious “Gafa” has an uneasy record of his relationship with Libya, for his involvement in corruption charges related to the sale of Schengen visas and medical treatment visas to Libyan citizens. He was previously investigated and charged with obtaining sums of money in exchange for securing medical visas, but the Maltese police were unable to prove these charges as no adequate evidence was provided, the Maltese judiciary released and acquitted him.
It is noteworthy that Gafa was a former director general of the Medical Services Corporation (FMS) before his dismissal at the request of the Deputy Prime Minister and Maltese Minister of Health Chris Verne after it appeared that he claimed to have assumed the post of Special Envoy of the Prime Minister and met with Haitham Al-Tajouri, one of the leaders of the armed battalions in Tripoli .
The case of suspicions surrounding the “fraudulent diplomat” still remains with the General Investigation in Malta, which last February reported information about a testimony provided by Gafa during the investigation in an attempt to relief himself of the impersonation of a diplomatic figure in Libya.
His testimony was strange as he said that his visits to Libya aim to coordinate rescue efforts by the Libyan coast guard for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean, stressing that all visits were made by a coordinator between the Prime Minister’s Office, the Maltese Armed Forces and the Libyan authorities, in particular the Ministry of Interior of the GNA and the Libyan Coast Guard.
He also revealed a secret coordination between him and his country’s government, in a sign that his mission sparked the controversy of being a secret agent, who entered Libya with a diplomatic passport as an envoy of the Prime Minister of Malta, which is inconsistent with his previous statements that his visit was personal.
