Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1294561
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 OCTOBER 2020 10 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK THE machine of the Marigold Foun- dation was still silently humming in the background when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat resigned in disgrace after the im- plication of his chief of staff Keith Schem- bri in the Caruana Galizia assassination in December 2019. Muscat's wife Michelle had by then pre- sided over one of the most formidable fund-raising as well as generous charities of the past six years. With a €200,000 capital endowment by the partly government-owned Bank of Valletta, Michelle Muscat's role as spouse of the prime minister was invested as chair of the Marigold Foundation, a char- ity that Since then, Muscat's charity events and her annual swimming challenge raised over €2.3 million: Marigold today has a surplus of €559,060, excluding BOV's founding capital. For all intents and pur- poses a charity 'owned' by the bank, the foundation's equity has always enjoyed a steady rise. In total, the charity now has over €776,000 in cash equivalents. But the foundation has been generous in disbursements every year, with 48% to 70% of its revenues given out from 2014 to 2018, for a total of €1.38 million donat- ed to its causes – that makes up 60% of historic donations. Expenses rose steadily from €14,752 in its first year to €141,000 in 2018 – a total of €365,114 over five years, or 16% of total donations. The annual report however makes no further breakdown of this figure, and the jump might be explained by larger cam- paigns, a scaling-up of the charity, and a move towards glitzier gala dinners and fashion shows. None of the events could escape the star power of Michelle Muscat herself, whose annual swimming chal- lenge personalised the work of the Mari- gold Foundation in her own image. Now Muscat has been installed as a co-founder of the Marigold Foundation through a nominal €100 endowment, which will give her the authority to ap- point persons of her choice to the board of the Foundation. Apart from assistants who have been by her side in the last years, Muscat appoint- ed her hus- band's long- time aide Mark Farrugia as a representative on the founda- tion's board of administrators. Like Muscat herself, Farru- gia had been by the side of former Labour leader Alfred Sant as the party's media coordinator. Both have deep political knowledge of the Labour party structures; but Michelle Muscat has never shied away from the political game either. Bank of Valletta has been cagey about the future of the Marigold Foundation with Muscat as its head. BOV did not confirm whether it had a run a risk assess- ment on the fact that the charity is run by a PEP. Michelle Muscat's husband is a former prime minister whose activities in gov- ernment remain under the scrutiny of nu- merous audits, but also connected to the fates of people implicated in wrongdoing: his former chief of staff Keith Schembri is formally investigated on a passports kickback together with Nexia BT's part- ner Brian Tonna, a one-time auditor of the Marigold Foundation itself; Muscat's name has already been mentioned in the info-dump that are the Melvin Theuma recordings in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech. For a bank that has been keen on de-risk- ing itself and fending off the headaches of the Falcon Funds saga and the Deiulemar case in Italy, having one of Malta's fore- most PEPs in charge of a €1 million asset charity must re- quire additional scrutiny. Bank of Vallet- ta has defended the retention of Muscat as a co-founder on the Marigold's board. " M i c h e l l e Muscat was in effect a co-founder of the Foundation since its inception in 2014. In 2019 this agreement was formalised though estab- lishment of the formal legal set up of the Foundation," a BOV spokesperson said. "The Foundation's governance struc- ture ensures that there is the highest level of transparency in its activities." When pressed on her role as a PEP, the bank said that it was applying "enhanced levels of due diligence" to anyone falling under this category. BOV said the Foundation's accounts are fully audited by KPMG and comply with the legal requirements of the Com- missioner for Voluntary Organisations, where they are subject to an annual statu- tory audit and submitted to the Commis- sioner for Voluntary Organisations. None of the members of the board of administrators, including the co-founder, have ever received any remuneration for their role or services and the salary of the executive secretary – a BOV employee seconded to the Foundation – is borne by BOV itself. "The Bank's policy has always been to integrate social concerns both in our business operations and in the interac- tion we have with our various stakehold- ers, this with a view of making a positive contribution towards society in general. Bank of Valletta has been a pioneer in the sphere of Corporate Social Responsibility for a considerable number of years with annual contributions being made in the areas of art and culture, heritage, the en- vironment, sports, education and the so- cial sectors," the spokesperson said. In 2018, Michelle Muscat – whom her husband has in the past credited as a sounding board for his policies – had played down claims of political ambi- tions. After the exit of her husband from politics, Muscat refused to entertain questions on her political ambitions, say- ing she was focused on Marigold and the National Alliance for Rare Diseases Sup- port. nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt All that glitters at Marigold... "The Foundation's governance structure ensures that there is the highest level of transparency in its activities." Michelle Muscat has been a formidable fund-raiser, but is Bank of Valletta still keen on having a PEP run a charity with an equity of €1 million? File photo of Michelle Muscat greeting Special Olympiad athletes at Malta International Airport. Much of Marigold's events have centred around the personality of Muscat, who is not just a charity worker but has played an important part in her husband's political ascent.