Former parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon, who resigned last January over the Gaffarena scandal, has ended up in a much better financial position, as new documents obtained by the Times of Malta show he was hand-picked for a €50,000 job at the Grand Harbour Regeneration Project.
Minutes of a board meeting of the GHRC held last April show that Dr Falzon was employed on a full-time basis as a legal consultant without any call and on the direct suggestion of the government-appointed board.
Without stating which member of the board suggested the direct employment of the former parliamentary secretary, the minutes, signed by company secretary Alex Falzon, state that “the board considered Dr Michael Falzon for this appointment”, as it was of the opinion that the full-time lawyer required “ideally has a sound background and technical expertise in contractual issues as well as experience in public and corporate administration”.
During the same board meeting in which the name of the former Labour Party deputy leader was suggested, the board also agreed that Dr Falzon was to be given a three-year definite contract with an annual financial package totalling some €50,000 a year.
The person ideally has a sound background and technical expertise in contractual issues, as well as experience in public and corporate administration
When asked about his remuneration package last June, a spokeswoman for the Transport Ministry said that Dr Falzon earned a salary of €36,000.
However, a copy of Dr Falzon’s actual contract, obtained following a Freedom of Information request, shows that Dr Falzon is earning much more.
The contract, dated May 1, was signed between Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, chairman of GHRC and former president of the Labour Party, and the former parliamentary secretary. It shows that apart from a scale-three salary (€36,482 a year), Dr Falzon is also being paid an expense allowance of €6,307 a year, the use of a fully expensed car including fuel, fully expensed mobile phone and internet service and an additional allowance of €1,630 a year.
In total, Dr Falzon’s package costs some €50,000 a year.
The contract also stipulates that Dr Falzon cannot be removed from office, “except on the grounds of proven inability to perform his functions” and will still be entitled to half his salary in case his contract is terminated before the end of April 2019.
Apart from his new job, Dr Falzon is also a sitting MP and is entitled to an honorarium of some €20,000 a year, boosting his income to over €70,000 annually.
As a parliamentary secretary, Dr Falzon was entitled to remuneration of €56,000 a year and could not receive his parliamentary honorarium.
Upon becoming parliamentary secretary in Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet, Dr Falzon hit the headlines following revelations of a unique arrangement he had struck with his employer, Bank of Valletta, giving him a €260,000 early retirement settlement.
However, unlike his BOV colleagues, he was given an ad hoc option to return to the bank once he stopped serving as a member of Cabinet. This arrangement was on the condition that he return by the end of the legislature, which elapses in 2018.
According to the arrangement with BOV, Dr Falzon would have to pay back some of his early retirement package upon his return to his former job.
Asked whether Dr Falzon was still entitled to return as a bank employee before the end of the current legislature, once he has resigned from Cabinet and found a new job, the bank refused to reply.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com