Finance Minister Tonio Fenech this evening defended his actions in the wake of the VAT fraud case  and the audit report published on Monday.

Replying to questions in Parliament, Mr Fenech said he had done his duty and as soon as the fraud allegations were made, he reported the matter to the police, who investigated what had taken place and arraigned a number of persons.

He said the audit of the VAT Department had identified a number of weaknesses which had been tackled. It would have been dangerous for the country had the report been tabled before remedial action was taken, Mr Fenech said.

Mr Fenech said he was not in a position to say whether the members of the VAT Department had been given a performance bonus.

Earlier, the Finance Ministry explained that over the past few months changes at the VAT Department included the setting up of a new analysis and control section which conducted internal audit work, monitored the observance of regulations, conducted risk assessments and analysed requests for refunds.

New controls had been introduced on claims for refunds.

The VAT law had also been amended, making it a crime for anyone to refuse, when so requested, to hand over any used or void fiscal receipt. It also became a crime to possess software that erased or altered fiscal records.