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Karl Schembri
The Health Minister’s aide, arrested and investigated over the last month by the police and about to be arraigned in court on charges of corruption in the award of invalidity pensions, is Louis Deguara’s assistant private secretary Thomas Woods, MaltaToday can reveal.
Directly appointed by Deguara to his secretariat since 1995, Woods has already admitted to investigators that he received “gifts” from people applying for their invalidity pension through militant Nationalist activist Saverin Sinagra of Zejtun, aged 71, who acted as go-between.
Under interrogation by police detectives, Woods admitted he used to visit Sinagra at her house in Zejtun to receive rewards in the form of meat, fish, rabbits and wine, but denied he received payments when asked whether he received up to Lm600 in kickbacks.
His version contrasted with the statement given by Sinagra to the police who said that she also handed sealed envelopes to Woods from recipients of the invalidity pensions.
Psychiatrist and Nationalist MP Joe Cassar was crucial in unearthing the scandal when a client of his told him that he was told to pay bribes to be boarded out or forget about his pension, even though he was entitled to an invalidity pension.
Dr Cassar is believed to have convinced the client to speak to the authorities about the allegations, with investigators following the leads given to them that led to Sinagra and Woods.
Sources close to Woods’ office say the minister’s aide had access to the results of the applicants for invalidity pensions and was able to allegedly call those who were granted the benefit to inform them before they would receive the official letter from the department. Woods is believed to have accepted the gifts while allegedly deceiving the applicants for invalidity pensions into believing that they were favoured or had their cases sped up.
Last Wednesday, the police arraigned Sinagra in court and charged her with accepting bribes and with bribing someone else. Shortly afterwards, the health ministry issued a press statement saying that an official from Deguara’s private secretariat had his job terminated as he was being investigated on allegations of corruption.
“Through this action, the ministry is following the government line to take immediate action as soon as there is suspicion of conduct unbecoming,” the statement said.
But in contrast with the Health Ministry’s statement which said that the assistant private secretary’s job was “immediately terminated”, Deguara took at least one month to sack Woods since the police raided his office and confiscated all files and documents before interrogating him.
Contacted yesterday, Health Minister Louis Deguara said he was informed around 7 June that Woods could be implicated in the case.
“He has been denying the allegations outright,” Deguara said. “He was sacked as soon as we learned that the police were proceeding with their case to the law courts. Nothing has been proved so far, he hasn’t even been charged in court yet, and we have to wait till the end of procedures.”
However, according to the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity, it received information “around April this year” about alleged abuse in the process of awarding invalidity pensions to some applicants.
When told that his assistant private secretary had admitted to receiving gifts, Deguara said: “Yes, some rabbits and a fish.”
Asked whether he sacked Woods on that basis, Deguara said, “Yes, that’s why I stopped him. If he did any wrongdoing I hope he gets the book thrown at him, but he remains innocent until proven otherwise.”
Deguara admitted that the allegations showed that the trust he had put in his long-time aide had been breached and was disappointed about that, but he insisted that he never knew the abuse was going on.
“Absolutely – I never knew this was happening and he (Woods) is still denying the allegations,” Deguara said.
On Tuesday, the ministry for family and social solidarity announced the case of abuse in invalidity pensions that was forwarded to the police after it was informed of the allegations “around April”.
“This is not the first instance of abuse the ministry has referred to the police in its continuous and consistent battle against social benefits fraud,” the ministry said. “A case in point is the action taken recently against a Department of Social Security employee who was arraigned following a report regarding abuse in the award of Children’s Allowance.
“In a number of other cases, the efforts of the police did not yield sufficient and concrete proof to allow them to proceed. In this most recent of cases, the police have all the necessary elements to carry on with the case and bring it to court.”
Last February, Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said in Parliament that a number of people who received invalidity pension had increased steeply over the past few years, leading one to wonder if all such people really could not work.
Steering the new Bill giving powers to the Benefit Fraud Investigation Directorate and reforming invalidity pensions, Cristina said the purpose of this Bill was not to reduce benefits, but to ensure that such benefits were directed only to those who needed them.
kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt |
