UK police have been called in to investigate a data leak during a public inquiry into possible corruption at the highest levels of Gibraltar's government.
The Guardian writes about it.
It was the latest twist in the inquiry, which is due to hear allegations made by former British Overseas Territories police chief Iain McGrail.
He claims he was forced to resign early after he tried to execute a search warrant on a person who had close ties to Gibraltar's chief minister, Fabian Picardo.
The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) has already arrested two people in connection with the alleged data leak, but with the ex-police commissioner at the center of the investigation, it has appealed to its British colleagues for support in the interests of "transparency".
The alleged breach of investigation documents is considered a matter of "extreme seriousness and urgency" and has led to the postponement of a main hearing in the case, which was due to take place in March.
The search warrant in question related to the alleged hacking and sabotage of the National Security Central Intelligence System (NSCIS) and a conspiracy to defraud Bland Ltd, the private company that operated the system, for the benefit of another company, 36 North Limited.
Picardo, a lawyer who is a royal counsel, co-owned 36 North Limited, which also held security contracts with the government. McGrail's statement of facts provided to the inquiry said the chief minister "could also have benefited financially from the alleged fraud in this way".
In January, Gibraltar's attorney general decided not to prosecute three men, including one of the territory's most senior civil servants, who were accused of conspiring to defraud Bland Ltd.
The government's statement of facts provided to the investigation emphasized that Picardo's involvement in the alleged fraud case was to "ensure that those who may have wished to benefit did not do so by ensuring that the NCIS contract remained with the current manager of Bland Ltd and only with him".