Godwin Sant has been suspended from the Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit pending investigation, with immediate effect, the government said this morning.

The suspension follows a report in Malta Today that Mr Sant, who served as director for Energy Regulation and later as chief officer energy policy at the Malta Resources Authority (MRA)under the previous administration, accepted gifts from oil giant Trafigura at rogue oil trader George Farrugia’s request.

The newspaper reported that in April 2009, Mr Farrugia made arrangements for Mr Sant to receive football tickets in the UK from Trafigura as a gift.

Mr Farrugia, who had been given a Presidential pardon to divulge everything, had told the police in 2013 that he had no further backhand dealings to report on for the period after 2005, and that he had told them everything he knew.

Malta Today said that Mr Sant kept a very close relationship with Mr Farrugia, even furnishing him with details of other developments related to what was taking place under the energy portfolio at the MRA.