The former Enemalta chairman paid for his secretary’s accommodation during a trip to London because she had performed official duties while on leave, a court heard yesterday.

Bronia Mercieca, the former personal secretary of Enemalta Corporation’s former chairman Alex Tranter said she had attended an official meeting on his behalf so he had offered to pay her accommodation.

She was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Mr Tranter, who stands accused with misappropriating the corporation’s funds during his term as chairman between 2005 and 2010, particularly during 2007, 2008 and 2010. The prosecution is alleging that Mr Tranter made personal use of company funds.

During her long testimony, Ms Mercieca was pressed on her trip to the International Petroleum Forum in London in February 2010. The prosecution is alleging that Mr Tranter used Enemalta funds to pay for two rooms at the Hilton Hotel.

Ms Mercieca explained that she asked Mr Tranter whether she could join the Enemalta delegation on the trip as she wanted to experience first-hand the networking events in view of one she was organising some three months later.

She said Mr Tranter replied that if she paid for all the expenses, she could attend. She booked vacation leave to be able to travel and even paid for the air ticket. She told Magistrate Audrey Demicoli that Mr Tranter asked her to attend a meeting on the Malta event as he had to go to another meeting.

When she went to reception to pay for the hotel room, Mr Tranter told her that although she was there on holiday, she had performed official duties so the least the corporation could do was pay her accommodation.

During her testimony, she explained how she used to handle the chairman’s travel arrangements, including booking air tickets and hotels. She said the chairman had the company’s Visa card which was used for general expenses.

Asked whether there were times when Mr Tranter had to refund money, Ms Micallef said there was one occasion when the chairman realised he had mistakenly used the Enemalta Visa card instead of another credit card and had written out a cheque immediately.

Another witness, Simone Sapiano, told the court that the Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate within the Office of the Prime Minister had been tasked to probe the corporation’s use of credit card funds. She said the basic principles of internal control were not respected and there was missing supporting documentation. She also said that the same card was shared by nine people.

The case continues on June 26.

Police inspector Ian Abdilla prosecuted while lawyer Joe Giglio appeared for Mr Tranter.