[WATCH] Bail for public official who rubbed shoulders with George Farrugia

Former MRA director Godwin Sant arraigned in court

Godwin Sant, a high-ranking civil servant who enjoyed a cosy relationship with oil trader George Farrugia, has been granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 this morning. 

He was arraigned before Magistrate Anthony Micallef Trigona today charged with tax evasion, bribery, money laundering and computer misuse. His lawyer, Edward Gatt, requested bail, which was granted by the court. Sant, 44, did not utter a word during today’s sitting,

Inspector Jonathan Ferris told the court that as the director of the MRA, Sant was responsible for overseeing the regulation of the authority. On the 18th January, said Ferris, the police had received information connecting Sant to allegations of bribery, computer, misuse, stealing data and tax evasion as well as money laundering.

Investigations began and the police observed a significant difference between the income he declared and the amounts being deposited in his account. Sant could not adequately explain the provenance of the large sums of money when interviewed by the inspector. “The police were always one step ahead of him,” said Ferris.

On the request of the prosecution, the court imposed a freezing order on all of Sant’s movable and immovable assets.

Sant served as director for energy regulation and later as chief officer of energy policy at the Malta Resources Authority under the previous administration. He was responsible for overseeing that fuel specifications of imported oil were according to strict state-regulated tender requirements. E-mails published by MaltaToday in January show that he had accepted free football tickets in 2007 from oil-giants Trafigura at the request of their agent, oil trader George Farrugia.

Following MaltaToday’s revelations, the government suspended Sant from his position within the Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit. The police subsequently arrested him that same day.

In 2009, resources minister George Pullicino tasked Sant with overseeing a legal change in the control of volatile organic compound emissions of petrol. Sant passed on a copy of this draft legislation, as well as the minutes of a MRA energy directorate meeting, to Farrugia. Farrugia immediately passed this information on to his suppliers.

Following Sant’s arrest, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that Farrugia’s presidential pardon could be revoked if it were proven that he had lied to the police.