The Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools official at the centre of corruption and fraud claims had direct access to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, court evidence shows.
Testifying in court last January, Mr Bartolo said Edward Caruana, who had been employed on a person of trust basis, did not need to go through formal structures, including the permanent secretary, who happens to be his brother, if he needed to speak to the minister.
Mr Bartolo was giving evidence during defamation proceedings over bribery allegations made by a contractor against Mr Caruana.
READ: Contractor claims ministry official sought €30,000 bribe
Mr Bartolo said Mr Caruana was a technical person entrusted by him to oversee infrastructural projects related to the FTS and other ministry projects.
Asked whether Mr Caruana reported directly to him or through the ministry’s formal channels, Mr Bartolo replied that he could report directly to him if the need arose.
Asked to explain better whether this meant Mr Caruana reported to the minister directly or through the permanent secretary, Mr Bartolo replied: “No. He does not need to speak to his brother because he has direct access to me.”
He does not need to speak to his brother because he has direct access to me
The minister had also testified that, during a meeting in the summer of 2015 over extension works at the Gozo sixth form, then FTS chief executive officer Arthur Muscat had reported that Gozitan contractor Giovann Vella had alleged that Mr Caruana had asked him for a €30,000 bribe in connection with the project.
Mr Bartolo said the allegations had been made in his presence, adding he had instructed those present, including Mr Caruana, to take the necessary measures. Soon after the meeting, Mr Caruana went to the police to file a defamation report against Mr Vella. Subsequently, the police instituted defamation proceedings against Mr Vella. However, on the basis of the evidence heard in court, the police started investigating the bribery claims. Last week, they said they were still awaiting the Attorney General’s advice on how to proceed.
Questions sent to Attorney General Peter Grech on what was keeping him from advising the police on an investigation that had already been concluded remained unanswered at the time of writing.
This newspaper reported yesterday the police were also analysing documents, including invoices, connected with FTS projects and a four-storey building, which includes six large apartments, a penthouse, six garages and an office, still under construction in Rabat. The property belongs to Mr Caruana.
Mr Caruana is one of Mr Bartolo’s canvassers on the Rabat district, a role he has been fulfilling since 1992. He had formed part of the minister’s private secretariat in the 22-month stint of the Alfred Sant government, which was elected in 1996.
Under the present administration, Mr Bartolo put Mr Caruana in charge of infrastructural projects on a person of trust basis. The minister has rejected calls to step down and to shoulder political responsibility for his canvasser’s actions.
“I would have been an accomplice had I known about the claims about Mr Caruana and tried to hide them. I acted immediately when I got wind of the allegations,” he told this newspaper.
On Saturday, the day after Mr Rizzo resigned and accused the minister of having tried to dissuade him not to report Mr Caruana’s involvement, Mr Bartolo at first said he learnt about the allegations at the end of August but later acknowledged he had been informed by Mr Rizzo in April but felt they should wait for “a smoking gun”.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has acknowledged he had been informed about the allegations against Mr Caruana last April, at the same time as Mr Bartolo.