The Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Michael Falzon, said today that in terms of his agreement with Bank of Valletta, he cannot return to work at the bank after June 2018.
Dr Falzon was reacting in a press conference this afternoon to comments by the Nationalist Party.
He said that Nationalist MP Ryan Callus 'lied' this morning when he said that he had received four years of wages in advance as part of his package when he left Bank of Valletta.
Dr Falzon said his private agreement with the bank precluded him from returning to the bank after June 2018, unlike what was claimed by Mr Callus.
He said he would sue Mr Callus for libel as a red line has been crossed and the PN was conducting a campaign of character assassination.
He insisted the early retirement was based on the collective agreement for all bank employees that spoke of an “ad hoc” early retirement scheme at the bank’s discretion.
“It is a lie to say the early retirement I took was something special... some 130 to 140 other bank employees took early retirement but it seems to be a problem because I am Michael Falzon,” he said.
When it was pointed out that the words ad hoc had been used by the BOV chairman in comments to the Times of Malta, Dr Falzon insisted he could not speak on behalf of the chairman and asked this newspaper’s journalist whether he was now speaking on behalf of Ryan Callus.
When asked whether other employees who took early retirement schemes had benefitted from the possibility to return to employment, Dr Falzon said he did not know because he was not privy to private agreements reached between the bank and other people.
But Dr Falzon also hit out at a journalist from this newspaper, who had earlier sent questions about a separate story. Mentioning the journalist by name at a press conference held at his office in Auberge de Castille, Dr Falzon said he wanted to “anticipate the Nationalist Party’s next attack”.
He was referring to an agreement signed last year between the government and BOV over the lease on a Valletta property.
Dr Falzon said the House of the Four Winds at Hastings in Valletta had been leased to BOV by the previous administration for 30 years at an annual payment of almost €30,000.
“The agreement made no provisions for lease revisions and I am proud of having renegotiated it to the benefit of the public purse,” Dr Falzon said.
Giving details of the agreement, he said the new lease was extended to 65 years with an annual payment of some €33,000, revisable every five years. He said the agreement also saw government rake in a premium of almost €5 million.
Dr Falzon denied he had a conflict of interest when signing the agreement last year, insisting it was concluded after he had received the early retirement settlement.
The parliamentary secretary also insisted that the agreement was possible under the provisions of a law that allowed this to happen for industries that created jobs.