A contractor who complained about unpaid bills was told by PN leader Simon Busuttil he should not have accepted the jobs because the party was not expected to be re-elected, a court heard yesterday.

Describing Simon Busuttil’s reply as “shameful”, Joseph Cauchi – a contractor from Għarb who has been given protection under the Whistleblower Act – testified that he had informed the PN leader about works carried out by the Gozo Ministry in private properties through false invoices.

He said he had met Dr Busuttil in June 2014 at the PN headquarters in Pietà after he had sent him an e-mail requesting an appointment over the unpaid bills.

However, Mr Cauchi said he did not tell Dr Busuttil such jobs were done in exchange for votes.

The witness said Dr Busuttil brushed off his complaint, saying he could do nothing because the case had happened under his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi.

“Why did you keep working? Did you not know the PN would not be re-elected?” Dr Busuttil had told him, he added.

Why did you keep working? Did you not know the PN would not be re-elected?

Mr Cauchi, who is known as Is-Sansun, was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Anthony Debono, 59, from Nadur.

The husband of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono is facing 13 charges involving fraud, misappropriation and falsification of documents in connection with cases spread over 22 sites and allegedly occurring between 2006 and March 2013, when Mr Debono was officer in charge of the construction and mainten­ance unit at his wife’s ministry.

The defence yesterday challenged proceedings on a point of law, saying that the Attorney General had a conflict of interest.

Whistleblower Joseph Cauchi, holding red file, arriving at court yesterday.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio argued that the Attorney General could not, on the one hand, issue the whistleblower certificate to Mr Cauchi and, on the other hand, decide whether there was enough evidence to indict his client.

He argued that the proceedings were in breach of the fundamental right to a fair hearing. Nevertheless, Dr Giglio notified the court his client would not be contesting whether there was enough prima facie evidence against him, saying it was not possible to tackle charges individually at that stage of proceedings.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla, acting for the prosecution, said that the point raised by Dr Giglio was as an “offence” to the system and was only intended to grab media attention.

At this point, Magistrate Neville Camilleri, presiding over the case being heard at the Gozo court, informed both parties he would be giving the Attorney General 48 hours to submit his reply to the point raised by the defence.

Mr Abdilla questioned Mr Cauchi at length over the allegations branded the ‘works for votes’ scandal, which last month led to the resignation of Ms Debono from the PN.

Anthony Debono.

Mr Cauchi said he was owed €34,995 for works he had carried out under the previous, Nationalist government.

He said Mr Debono last year made two €10,000 payments, each time in cash, one on February 8 and the other on December 29. In the latter case, Mr Debono told the contractor that he was paying him out of his own pocket and urged him not to tell anyone else about it.

Asked by the prosecution how he used to get paid, Mr Cauchi said Mr Debono used to visit his house once a year, in February or December, to settle the bills through fake invoices.

“This was done for the simple reason that no invoice could be sent to the ministry, because these works were not covered by a contract,” Mr Cauchi said.

“He used to ask me to make the invoice myself, consisting of a fictitious number of hours and the respective hourly rates for the hire of the equipment,” he added.

Mr Cauchi would then receive a government cheque.

The witness also exhibited 70 invoices that he said were fake, adding that they were part of the scam.

He said works used to be concealed as part of projects being carried out simultaneously elsewhere in Gozo.

He said that very often the invoices lacked any details, including the date.

Mr Cauchi pointed out that the jobs were done very close to elections, such as the laying of 20 truckloads of concrete near the fireworks factory in Għarb during the 2009 MEP election campaign.

Lawyer Robert Abela appeared parte civile for Mr Cauchi.

The case continues on Tuesday.