Kenneth Wain, who resigned as Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations on Friday, said that the Education Ministry had revised amendments to the Voluntary Organisations Act without consulting him. 

In his 2017 Annual Report, Prof. Wain had highlighted the importance of amending the 2007 Act in order to close loopholes which made organisations vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing.

Revisions to amendments had been concluded in the first months of 2017 after the Act went through all the stages of public consultation via a White Paper, Cabinet approval and clearance by the Attorney General, he told The Sunday Times of Malta. 

The amendments were ready to be sent to Parliament for a first reading, but the Education Ministry made changes to them without consulting or even informing him, he said.

“I only learnt of what was happening because I was continuously pressing the ministry on the matter until I was finally told that minor revisions were being made to them,” Prof. Wain explained.

Prof. Wain said that he was never given access to these revisions despite several assurances that he would be informed about them.

While the ministry was dragging its feet over the amendments, the sector continued to be extremely vulnerable to criminal abuse

“Matters would have developed into a crisis later had I not resigned now, for I certainly would not have endorsed amendments without having first been consulted,” he said.

Prof. Wain, who had been NGO Commissioner for more than a decade, also claimed the statement about his resignation issued by the Education Ministry was incorrect on many counts. He would have no problem, he added, with the ministry publishing his resignation letter. “In fact, I think that it should do so in the public interest,” he said.

The Education Ministry had said in its statement that “it was felt that the amendments made to the 2007 Act still required further amendments to avoid the misuse of funds, tax abuse and abuse against voluntary organisations and the voluntary sector”.

The section on money laundering and terrorist funding was written with the FIAU and had its approval

It also noted that the amendments brought forward in 2018 needed to undergo a rigorous process, including continuous input from the Attorney General’s Office, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and the Inland Revenue Department.

However, Prof. Wain insisted that this was “nonsense”. The amendments had already undergone a rigorous process between 2016 and 2017, and they had been cleared by the Attorney General and the FIAU, which had been consulted extensively.

“The section on money laundering and terrorist funding was written with the FIAU and had its approval,” he said.

I still don’t know what revisions they are going to make to the amendments, which were the fruit of four years of hard work

While the ministry dragged its feet over the amendments, the sector continued to be extremely vulnerable to criminal abuse, he warned. For some reason or another, the ministry didn’t seem to see the urgency of amending the law.

The matter only became urgent when the ministry was informed by the FIAU that Moneyval, which made recommendations on the amendments in 2012 regarding tightening Maltese laws and supervision, were due to visit this year and had asked for a progress report.

“Of course there was no progress on these recommendations but one, the construction of a new website, because the amendments had not been passed,” he said, adding that he informed Moneyval of the lack of progress.

Prof. Wain also lamented the lack of support for his work from the ministry on all levels. “Absolutely nothing came out of my meetings with the parliamentary secretary, Clifton Grima,” he said.

“Despite his assurances, I still don’t know what revisions they are going to make to the amendments, which were the fruit of four years of hard work,” Prof. Wain noted.