Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/219723
14 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2013 2013 PR man who sued MaltaToday €600,000 in direct orders Jesmond Bonello told court in defamation suit that government work did not represent bulk of his work. JURGEN BALZAN THE true extent of government contracts awarded to Jesmond Bonello, the former Times journalist turned PR man, was this week exposed in Parliament with documents showing that his company Content House benefitted from around €600,000 in direct orders between 2004 and 2013. The documents show that over the span of nine years, Bonello's media company was awarded over €1 million in government contracts, with more than half the amount coming from direct orders. In 2004, the former Radio 101, Malta Independent and Times journalist set up his own media company Content House, which was awarded several contracts by various government ministries and entities. The global amount of the contracts awarded to Content House is still unknown since a number of ministries, including the Prime Minister's office, have not yet tabled the entire list of direct orders awarded to the company. In 2010, Bonello sued MaltaToday for libel over questions and comments made by managing editor Saviour Balzan in his weekly column, where Balzan contended that the firm had benefited from direct orders under previous Nationalist administrations. Coincidentally, this week Balzan and MaltaToday.com.mt editor Matthew Vella received a request from Bonello asking the court to decide on the case, and accusing the MaltaToday editors of "going on a fishing expedition" in trying to prove that his company benefited from direct orders. So far, evidence given in court before the last election has not indicated the amount tabled in parliament this week. Bonello also said in court that government work did not represent the bulk of his company's Double dipping There's a curious modus operandi in the way Jesmond Bonello utilised his excellent contacts with the Nationalist government, and his ownership of various publishing titles. A large number of direct orders awarded to Content House went towards advertisements on magazines published by the same company. Among the 22 direct orders awarded to the company by Malta Enterprise, 16 adverts were published on The Commercial Courier, Business Agenda and The Business Chamber Annual Report, all published by Content House. The company was also awarded direct orders by a number of ministries and government bodies such as Air Malta, the Malta Communications Authority, the Employment and Training Corporation and the Malta Tourism Authority for the design and publication of adverts on the company's own magazines such as Gwida, Best Buy, Guide Me and the Malta Football Association magazine.