Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon went on the warpath yesterday as he accused the Opposition of lying about his early retirement from the bank.

Appearing very emotional, at times angry, Dr Falzon denied he had a right to return to his job at the bank after June 2018 and that the payment of €260,000 was equivalent to four years’ wages.

He was reacting to a press conference held earlier in the day by Nationalist Party spokespersons Kristy Debono and Ryan Callus, who questioned the decisions taken at Bank of Valletta’s top echelons.

Reading out from his private agreement with the bank, Dr Falzon said the option to return to the bank was only available until June 2018 and if he did take it up, he would have to pay back pro-rata the lump sum.

“I have no obligation to read out a private agreement but I have nothing to hide. It is not true I can return to BOV after June 2018 as claimed by Ryan Callus,” Dr Falzon said as he read out the relevant clause.

He also 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 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 benefited from the possibility of returning to employment, Dr Falzon said he did not know because he was not privy to private agreements reached between the bank and other people.

However, in a counter-reaction he insisted there were instances when bank officials who took early retirement were given a top-up to their pension as part of the arrangement when they did not merit it.

“I also recall a time at Bank of Valletta when people were given two promotions in the same announcement.”

Mentioning the journalist by name at a press conference, he said he wanted to ‘anticipate the PN’s next attack’

Asked about the printout he tabled in Parliament to prove his point that others had benefited from early retirement, Dr Falzon said he downloaded it from the BOV website under the heading ‘media and community relations’. Dr Falzon reiterated that he has had enough of the “lies” and accused the Opposition of “character assassination”.

The parliamentary secretary said he would file a raft of libel suits against Mr Callus and various newspapers over statements on his early retirement arrangement.

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.

“I am proud of this agreement... why somebody should attack me for this is beyond me. If this is the type of attack then put it on,” he said as he asked whether this newspaper’s journalist worked for Times of Malta or Net TV.

Dr Falzon denied he had a conflict of interest when signing the House of Four Winds 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 it for industries that created jobs.

“Haven’t the Opposition heard there is something known as the banking industry?” he said.