No justification has been given by the Public Service Commission on why Jimmy Magro was allowed to “retire” and therefore get refunded €9,000 in deducted salaries, despite having no retirement clause in his contract. 

The issue revolves around his premature exit from State investment arm Malta Enterprise in June last year when he turned 62. Mr Magro had been employed on a position-of-trust basis with an annual salary of €50,000 excluding perks, but spent his last five months suspended on half pay. 

The disciplinary action had been taken in the wake of a damning report by the Permanent Commission Against Corruption which said that it was “morally convinced” he was guilty of attempted bribery.

Read: Police say more evidence needed to charge Jimmy Magro

According to the commission, Mr Magro, had requested €25,000 in return for the adjudication of a waste management contract issued in 2014 by the Local Councils Association where he had served as executive secretary between 2007 and 2013. Prior to that he had a 12-year stint as the Labour Party general secretary, between 1991 and 2003.

All procedures in this regard had been directed by the Public Service Commission

While Mr Magro had denied any wrongdoing, the police had launched a criminal investigation but to date no charges have been made.

The case came back to the fore following a story in The Sunday Times of Malta that said the former Labour official had been refunded the deducted salaries, after being allowed to “retire”.

Yet, there was no such provision in his five-year employment contract which was meant to expire a year later in June 2018.  On the other hand, his accelerated exit and the slow pace of police investigations meant that, he could bow out and be eligible to get back the €9,000 which had been deducted from his salary.

This was thanks to a clause in his contract which stated that “in the event that the employee is not found guilty or if the [police] investigations do not result in a charge, the employee will be refunded the full unpaid amount of his total remuneration during the period of suspension”.

While Mr Magro’s exit fuelled even more questions, the Economy Ministry distanced itself from the issue. In a statement on Sunday it pointed out that his employment with Malta Enterprise was regulated by the Public Administration Act and all procedures in this regard had been directed by the Public Service Commission. 

Consequently, this newspaper enquired with the commission on how Mr Magro had been allowed to retire. However, by the time of writing no replies were received.

Meanwhile, Malta Enterprise has confirmed that its former employee was not given the €50,000 loyalty bonus which would have been due if Mr Magro would have completed the term of employment.