Luqa mayor John Schembri has insisted he trusted the council’s former executive secretary blindly and had not been aware of alleged misappropriation of public funds revealed by a recent investigation.

Mr Schembri said the council’s auditors and the authorities had never drawn his attention to possible financial irregularities so he did not see any reason why he should resign from his post in the wake of an audit report that could lead to criminal action.

“Had I allowed these things to happen, I would have resigned immediately. But since I did not know what was happening, I do not see any reason why I should resign,” Mr Schembri said when contacted. The council has a majority of Labour councillors.

According to an investigation carried out by the Internal Audit and Investigation Department within the Prime Minister’s Office, the former executive secretary misappropriated council funds when he fiddled with petty cash payments. The former executive secretary denied the allegation.

The Attorney General is now looking into the department’s report and is expected to decide whether to proceed with criminal action in connection with the findings.

“I never had any suspicions,” the mayor said. “We all trusted him blindly. I expected him to be accountable. When we realised something could be wrong, we disassociated ourselves and asked for an investigation in the interest of good governance.”

The mayor said he was planning to call a council meeting to discuss the report in more detail.