Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512265
4 NEWS 4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The investigation into Cuta- jar's employment started follow- ing a complaint filed in March this year by former ADPD chair Carmel Cacopardo. The complaint was triggered by the publication earlier this year of a cache of WhatsApp exchanges from 2019 between Cutajar and Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. In the exchanges, published by blogger Mark Camilleri, Cuta- jar boasted that she would soon start working as a consultant to ITS CEO Pierre Fenech. The NAO said Cutajar's em- ployment was "illegitimate, in breach of regulations" and the contract's backdating "irregular". The implication of the NAO's conclusion is that the job at ITS was specifically created for the then Labour MP, a fact strength- ened by Cutajar's own admission to Yorgen Fenech that 'every- body is pigging out [on public funds]' and she had no qualms of doing the same by becoming Pierre Fenech's consultant. The NAO said the financial beneficiary of the breaches flagged in its report was Cutajar but this was facilitated and ren- dered possible by the actions of Pierre Fenech when consenting to the disbursement of public funds "he was duty bound to safeguard". Cutajar's consultancy lasted from May 2019 up until Janu- ary 2020 when Robert Abela ap- pointed her parliamentary sec- retary for reforms. Cutajar was subsequently re- moved from her Cabinet post after MaltaToday revealed that she acted as a broker in a proper- ty sale involving Yorgen Fenech. She went on to successfully con- test last year's general election with the Labour Party but was not given a Cabinet post. Cutajar was forced to resign from the PL earlier this year following the publication of the WhatsApp messages but re- mained in parliament. She sits as an independent MP. Meanwhile, Pierre Fenech is still CEO at ITS. None of the ITS's annual re- ports and other internal quality assurance audit reports made any reference to the need to engage a consultant, or any po- sition to aid the CEO, the NAO said. Additionally, the new role was not even referred to the board of governors of the ITS despite this being responsible for discussing issues related to human resources. Pierre Fenech justified Cuta- jar's employment by stating that the board had approved the need to carry out a review of the in- stitute's policies and procedures in March 2019 but the minutes made no reference to the ap- pointment of a consultant. During a meeting of the board on 17 May 2019, the CEO put forward a new HR plan, which included new proposed posts and others that were vacant at the time. But the NAO noted "with concern" that the plan did not include the post of consult- ant to the CEO despite Cutajar having been supposedly engaged two weeks prior. The ITS CEO told the NAO he "assumed that individuals en- gaged on a trust basis were not to be included" in the institute's HR plan. In three other meetings of the board of governors held after May 2019, no reference to Cuta- jar's engagement was ever made. Basis for remuneration 'ob- scure' But the NAO also raised con- cerns over the remuneration af- forded to the MP. "The basis for remuneration set remained ob- scure and unsound, with the rate payable exceeding established thresholds," the NAO said. It added: "As with all aspects of this engagement, no docu- mentation substantiating that claimed by the CEO ITS regard- ing the setting of remuneration payable to the consultant was submitted." The NAO said Cutajar's en- gagement was in breach of all regulations governing recruit- ment. Indeed, the manner by which the MP was employed neither satisfied public service regulations nor those governing the engagement of persons of trust. Fenech claimed the need for a consultant was discussed in April 2019 with the tourism ministry's chief of staff, who lat- er informed the CEO of Cuta- jar's name. However, the NAO was not provided with records of these exchanges with the CEO saying these were made over the phone. Significantly, the chief of staff ITS governors in the dark over maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2023 The manner by which the MP was employed neither satisfied public service regulations nor those governing the engagement of persons of trust