Mario Cutajar, the head of the civil service, is refusing to name the government official who in 2013 suspended himself from work on full pay due to “a similar case” to that of Minister Evarist Bartolo’s canvasser Edward Caruana.
Last month, following allegations that a close canvasser of Mr Bartolo’s was being investigated by the police in connection with fraud and corruption at the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, the government said that Mr Caruana had suspended himself on full pay on the advice of the Attorney General.
When asked to cite under which civil service rules Mr Caruana had suspended himself from work while still receiving his full salary, Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar did not provide any specific rules but said that the decision was based on a precedent dating back to 2013.
Asked to state which case he was referring to, Mr Cutajar said that he could not divulge any additional details.
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“Information regarding your query cannot be divulged due to data protection provisions,” was Mr Cutajar’s reply.
According to Mr Cutajar, in the case of Edward Caruana, the government gave its permission on the basis of advice by Attorney General Peter Grech that was similar to a case from February 2013.
The unnamed civil servant also suspended himself and the AG advised that he should continue receiving his full salary, according to Mr Cutajar.
The case of the Education Minister’s canvasser came to light following the resignation of former FTS CEO Philip Rizzo, who stepped down while accusing Mr Bartolo of trying to dissuade him for months from reporting the canvasser for wrongdoings.
According to Mr Rizzo, despite having told Minister Bartolo about serious irregularities and claims of corruption starting in April 2016, the minister had refrained from taking immediate action. At first, Minister Bartolo refuted Mr Rizzo’s claims and said that he had acted immediately in August when he was first informed about the allegations of wrongdoing.
However, he later admitted he had been informed months earlier but wanted “a smoking gun” before reporting the claims of corruption to the police.
Mr Caruana, a person of trust to Mr Bartolo and one of his main political canvassers since 1992, was given a lucrative job at the FTS on the direct recommendation from the latter, pegged to a €53,000 financial package.
Although the police have been investigating the FTS case since the beginning of September, Mr Caruana has not yet been arraigned in court.
He has been suspended on full pay since last November.
The allegations surround the misappropriation of hundreds of thousands in public funds originally intended for infrastructural works at government schools.