The Malta Gaming Authority’s executive chairman Joseph Cuschieri has given over €330,000 in direct orders to the audit firm for which he carried out consultancy work prior to his appointment.
The authority is the regulatory body responsible for all gaming activities in Malta.
Information tabled in Parliament last month showed that Mr Cuschieri gave a total of €1.8 million worth of direct orders in the form of professional fees between 2013 and 2015.
Contacted by the Times of Malta, Mr Cuschieri denied any conflict of interest in giving direct orders to EY, a firm he previously did work for.
“There is absolutely no conflict of interest. In our reply to a parliamentary question we already declared that between 2013 and 2015 we engaged the following firms by direct order: Deloitte, Grant Thornton, KPMG, EY, PWC, RSM, Nexia BT and others.
“Given the nature of its business, the MGA needs to draw upon the right package of expertise, experience and technical knowledge to fit particular tasks and projects. I consider all the practitioners we work with as partners in the development of the gaming sector and the numerous reforms we are carrying out,” Mr Cuschieri said.
“You have to understand that if we were to issue a tender, it would have to include a considerable amount of information which could be sensitive or which could have an impact on our competitiveness, tipping off other jurisdictions to what we have in mind.”
While analysis of the information tabled in parliament shows that direct orders were given to a number of companies, Mr Cuschieri’s former firm topped the list with €331,137 worth of direct orders.
Audit and accountancy firm Nexia BT was next on the list with €212,965 worth of business coming its way with a stroke of the MGA chairman’s pen.
Deloitte and KMPG, who form part of the so-called ‘big four’ accounting firms together with EY and PWC, both got €95,000 worth of work, through direct order, from the MGA.
PWC received one direct order worth €51,000 in 2015.
All direct orders over a certain threshold are meant to be approved by the Finance Ministry. Mr Cuschieri confirmed that all the direct orders had in fact, been approved prior to issue.
The Auditor General has repeatedly highlighted that approval for direct orders should only be sought in “exceptional circumstances” upon proper justification.
A 2013 Finance Ministry circular states that direct orders should be limited to the barest minimum.
“As previously reported direct orders are only to be resorted to in exceptional circumstances, in order to ensure accountability and that the most competitive prices for goods and services are obtained.
“Furthermore, it is highly recommended that expenditure is timely planned,” the Auditor General said in a report published last year.
This is “so that the appropriate procurement procedure is followed”.
jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com