Malta’s entire cabinet of Ministers subject of Magisterial inquiry and police investigation into misuse of public funds on social media – Report
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A magesterial inquiry and a police investigation has been launched into ‘misuse’ of public funds on social media, Lovin Malta reports.
The investigation into Malta’s entire Cabinet of ministers’ use is being led by Inspector Rennie Stivala from the Economic Crimes Unit. Lovin Malta also reports that the magisterial inquiry is being carried by Magistrate Doreen Clarke.
The Times of Malta adds that this widens the investigation conducted by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.
“In May, Hyzler found that Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri and Finance Minister Edward Scicluna all incorrectly used public resources on social media. Education Minister Owen Bonnici was not found to have misused public resources.”
Following the probe, Hyzler had referred the matter to the National Audit Office for a wider investigation. The NAO had, in turn, referred it to the police, saying it did not have the capacity to conduct a criminal investigation into the matter.
Lovin Maltaadds that “the report was triggered by a complaint filed by Lovin Malta after it became clear that ministers were using public funds and resources to boost their own Facebook pages instead of setting up official ministry pages”, adding that incomplete figures made public some years ago showed that at least €1.2 million were spent by ministries on social media over a 55-month period despite most ministries not having official Facebook pages.
