A whistleblower said in court yesterday he had told the Prime Minister’s Office three years ago that a “fraudster” worked there but he heard nothing and decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

Joe Borg, 75, also said that when he found out that Rita Schembri was working for the European Union’s anti-fraud office OLAF, he had informed MEP Simon Busuttil, today the Nationalist Party’s deputy leader, and MP Francis Zammit Dimech, now Foreign Minister, that she was unfit to occupy such office.

He said that Dr Busuttil told him to go straight to the police and Dr Zammit Dimech said he would inform Prime Minster Lawrence Gonzi about it.

Mr Borg was testifying in his defence in a case where he is pleading not guilty to sending a defamatory e-mail in November, in a bid to blackmail Ms Schembri and her husband, Mark.

Ms Schembri is being investigated at her own request following allegations of breaching the code of ethics when she used her government office to conduct private business.

Mr Borg said that he wanted Dr Gonzi to know that in a court case he had with the Schembris, they were declared to have acted fraudulently in his regard.

The issue revolves around the sub-letting to a Nigerian couple of a property belonging to Mr Borg. The Schembris had taken €54,000 in key-money from the Nigerians and all this was done behind his back, Mr Borg said.

He subsequently opened a court case against them and they were ordered to vacate the property. It was in that judgment that they were declared to have acted fraudulently, he said.

Following the judgment, some three years ago, he went to the Prime Minister Office to let him know that Ms Schembri, who worked within the OPM, was not trustworthy.

He said he spoke to someone who then handed him the e-mail address of a woman named Romina A. Galea and told him to send the details to her. He had heard nothing since and decided to keep his mouth shut.

It was only after he discovered that Ms Schembri was working for OLAF that he felt he should let it be known that she should not be investigating fraud claims when she was a “fraudster”.

After informing Dr Busuttil and Dr Zammit Dimech about the matter, Mr Borg said he decided to send Ms Schembri an e-mail, giving her a chance to redeem herself because he believed that everyone deserved a second chance.

In that message, he gave her 24 hours to pay the money back to the Nigerian couple. Mr Borg said he waited for 48 hours and when he got no reply from her he e-mailed OLAF informing them of the case.

The investigation involving Ms Schembri was still ongoing, he said.

He said that after sending the e-mail to Ms Schembri, the police arraigned him, appearing before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, which he thought rather unfortunate since he had revealed corruption involving her late father.

He said he was denied bail and spent four days in custody.

Magistrate Anthony Vella put off the case for final submissions.

OPM issues denial

The Office of the Prime Minister yesterday categorically denied the testimony tendered in court by Mr Borg, that he had told the OPM about the unsuitability of Ms Schembri after she was declared in court to have acted fraudulently in his regard.

The OPM also said that the person mentioned by Mr Borg, Romina A. Galea, to whom he said he sent an e-mail containing the allegations, has not worked for the office since 2004.