The planning authority paid its chief lawyer Anthony Degaetano more than €250,000 as part of a golden handshake, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

Asked to confirm the information, a Mepa spokesman said its chief lawyer had recently received a payment “worth five years of income”. The authority called it an out-of-court settlement after Dr Degaetano won several cases against the Mepa management.

“The agreement was done on the basis that the employee retires from employment with Mepa and renounces any damages which are, or might have been, due to him, including those of a constitutional nature, which the latter won. The out-of-court settlement together with his retirement equate to five years of income for Dr Degaetano,” the spokesman said.

But sources close to the authority denied this was the reason for the payment since the problems which led to the court cases between the Mepa management and Dr Degaetano had been sorted out years ago.

Read more in The Sunday Times of Malta.