The Prime Minister looked the other way when presented with tangible proof of corruption and fraud at the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, the former CEO has told this newspaper.

Joseph Muscat was very reluctant to stop the abuse, Philip Rizzo, claims in an interview today.

“On November 3, 2016, I requested his personal intervention to stop Education Minister Evarist Bartolo from inexplicably continuing to sit on the fence when faced with corruption,” Mr Rizzo said.

“I asked the PM: ‘Should I merely resign and let my departure pass as if nothing happened?’

“Muscat’s response was: ‘I believe, without compromising on anything, we can find you another place.’”

Mr Rizzo, an experienced auditor who in the 2013 general election publicly switched allegiance and voted Labour, said that following his experience with this administration, he would not be able to sleep at night if he voted PL a second time.

“The [Labour] Movement of Malta Tagħna Lkoll has clearly been aborted. At this point it is widely accepted than one cannot work with Labour unless one participates in flouting the law.”

Serving in important positions during both PN and PL administrations, Mr Rizzo has made a name for himself by speaking his mind in the face of wrongdoing.

Under the Gonzi administration, he went public on a conflict of interest in the case of Rita Schembri, given her role as head at the Internal Audit and Investigations Unit at the OPM and her undeclared business connections.

Last year, after finding serious abuse of public funds at the FTS, allegedly by Edward Caruana, a chief canvasser of Mr Bartolo and the brother of the Education Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Rizzo stepped down. He blamed Mr Bartolo’s reluctance to deal with a failure to account for hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayers’ money.

Admitting that before the 2013 election, he “fell for Joseph Muscat’s promises” and became an official switcher, Mr Rizzo says he regrets that judgement.

“Next week’s election is crucial. It’s not Joseph [Muscat] or Simon [Busuttil] who we have in front of us. It’s just a decision on what is right and wrong. It’s that simple” he said.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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