Freddie Fenech, who founded the Association for Abandoned Animals in 1979, has been ousted from his position as president during an extraordinary general meeting held on Monday.

Five of the eight committee members were present and took a unanimous vote, in the presence of their lawyer, Claire Stafrace Zammit, to force out Mr Fenech, who is being investigated in connection with allegations of misappropriating the sanctuary’s funds.

Dr Stafrace Zammit said Mr Fenech and the two other members, who were officially notified of the meeting and the agenda through a courier-sent letter, chose not to attend.

When asked why he was not present, Mr Fenech said he “was scared” of being in their presence and felt uncomfortable meeting at the office of the Animal Welfare Department.

“Why wasn’t the meeting held somewhere independent? I didn’t know what the meeting was about,” he said.

When it was pointed out that the letter clearly listed the agenda, he retracted this and said he had “forgotten”, adding he had nothing to hide: “I’m an innocent man.”

Dr Stafrace Zammit said the meeting, which ran for two and a half hours, was held at the department because AAA had no office. She said they gave Mr Fenech 30 minutes’ grace in the hope he would show up for the meeting but he never did.

The story about Mr Fenech broke last week when five of his helpers, who for years kept silent for fear nobody would believe them, filed a police report against the man who for many was the champion of stray animals.

The helpers only plucked up the courage to come forward after department director Mario Spiteri promised his assistance.

In their report, the helpers, who run the sanctuary in Luqa, accused Mr Fenech of siphoning off funds, being cruel to animals and making threats. They alleged they were unable to account for donations made directly to Mr Fenech and remained in the dark as to where the money went.

Their version was corroborated by the account of four former helpers who recalled very similar circumstances at the time they were still active at the sanctuary.

These helpers too had filed a police report against Mr Fenech for misappropriation of funds in 2004 but they felt their claims were never taken seriously and so they left the AAA.

In the meantime, a young woman, who said she had volunteered at the sanctuary between 2001 and 2003, called yesterday to vouch for Mr Fenech, saying she had never witnessed anything untoward during that time.

Mr Fenech has denied all the accusations levelled against him. Referring to The Times’ article, titled Police Question AAA Founder, he said he had gone to the police depot of his own accord to clear his name.

He also presented an affidavit to The Times yesterday saying he had “never been questioned by anybody” and that he had “never been approached by any authorities”.

The police have confirmed that investigations into the case are ongoing.

The investigations have left donors in a quandary, so in a bid to quell their concerns, the members voted to ensure Mr Fenech will no longer have “a direct or indirect right to appear on behalf of AAA, including but not limited to raising funds and entering the association’s sanctuary”.

“The members of AAA have voted Mr Fenech out because they sincerely want the sanctuary to move in the right direction,” Dr Stafrace Zammit said.

The members will be hiring an accountant to handle the funds and will be drawing up a report on the welfare of the animals within the sanctuary, which they will be handing over to the department.

A president to succeed Mr Fenech has not been elected yet and the members agreed to meet again within a month to approve the AAA’s new statute.

“The public can be reassured that everything is being done above board, Dr Stafrace Zammit said.