REVEALED: Whistleblower’s detailed email to Said about ‘work for votes’

The email by the whistleblower, who can now be named as Joe Cauchi, was one of the many pleas he has been making for payment for €50,000 in works commissioned by the Gozo ministry for private constituents.

One of the emails sent to Chris Said by the contractor
One of the emails sent to Chris Said by the contractor
Chris Said told MaltaToday that he advised the contractor to seek legal advice.
Chris Said told MaltaToday that he advised the contractor to seek legal advice.

An email by the Gozitan contractor turned whistleblower to PN secretary general Chris Said listed some of what the contractor called “works for votes”, which he carried out before the election and for which he has not been paid.

The email reached MaltaToday after Said addressed a news conference yesterday, in the campaigning for the April 11 local elections. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also took his electioneering to Said’s home village, Nadur.

The email by the whistleblower, who can now be named as Joe Cauchi, was one of the many pleas he has been making for payment for €50,000 in works commissioned by the Gozo ministry for private constituents.

The detailed list of works the contractor carried out, as explained to Said in an email.
The detailed list of works the contractor carried out, as explained to Said in an email.

He is one of several contractors commissioned to do works for free for constituents, which were billed to the Gozo Ministry, but by claiming the works were part of public projects.

At his news conference yesterday, Said called on the police to extend their investigation into free construction works to Gozitan constituents beyond 9 March, 2013, when the general elections were held, returning Labour to power.

Joe Cauchi, from Gharb, who has been given protection under the Whistleblowers Act, refers in his 20 May, 2014, email to some of the many works carried out for what he describes as ‘works for votes’ in Gozo. They included a reservoir in Nadur, a cellar in Victoria, cement works for an individual in Gharb, a road in Fontana carried out on the day of the local election, and a private car park.

Cauchi, who is represented by lawyer Robert Abela, says that he met Said in his office and also claimed in his email that PN leader Simon Busuttil also knew of what had been going on, as Cauchi had by coincidence met Busuttil in the lift and told him.

The email is being published in its entirety (see pages 6,7). Cauchi also refers to the husband of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono’s husband, Tony.

Cauchi tells Said: “Please, this work was carried out for votes.”

And he continues, “…if you have any doubt that these works have been carried out I can provide you with copious photographic evidence of this.”

MaltaToday has reported in previous editions the scam which involved invoicing the Gozo ministry, where Anthony Debono, the minister’s husband, had a position of responsibility.

Reacting to Cauchi’s email when contacted by MaltaToday, Chris Said said that what the email said was consistent with what he had already stated.   

“First of all I would like to emphasize that Cauchi was asking for my intervention for monies he was owed by third parties. The Gozitan contractor had complained and talked to me about works for Gharb mayor David Apap. I had spoken to the Mayor and he assured me that the works were commissioned by the Gozo ministry.

“I informed the contractor of the situation and I advised him to seek legal advice. 

“Regarding the other matters which the contractor raised with me, he told me that he had raised the matter with the Minister for Gozo, Anton Refalo and I (Chris Said) need not worry about this.

“At no point was there a need for me to inform the police authorities because I had no proof of any abuse. But I reiterate that if the police are to investigate they should do so thoroughly and continue their investigations to beyond March 2013. ”

Said told MaltaToday that he had met Cauchi after the emails had been sent. 

Asked about Cauchi’s claim that Cauchi had raised the issue with him, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo said that after the contractor spoke to him, he lost no time to ask that the claims be looked into and ascertained. “That was in November and the case today is in the hands of the police and may lead to the first whistleblower case according to the legislation enacted by the Labour government.”

Labour, PN trade accusations

Chris Said’s confirmation that he had met and corresponded with the whistleblower sparked a series of accusations between the Labour and Nationalist parties.

During yesterday’s press conference, the PN secretary general confirmed meeting the whistleblower and corresponded with him when the latter approached him after the general election.

Said, who also revealed that the whistleblower had also approached Gozo Minister Anton Refalo, said the police should investigate the case beyond March 2013 as well.

He said the whistleblower had referred him to works carried out at Gharb. After contacting mayor David Apap, Said said it resulted that the works were funded by the Ministry for Gozo and any pending payments should be issued by the ministry. 

“There wasn’t much I could do when the mayor said the works were being paid for by the ministry. I spoke to the whistleblower and suggested that he seeks legal advice to recover his money,” Said added. 

He also confirmed that the same whistleblower had met the Opposition leader a few days after  Busuttil was elected leader. 

“Every abuse is wrong and should be investigated and steps taken as a result of the investigation. The PN leader has been clear that he will be ready to take the necessary steps as soon as there is an outcome to the investigation,” Said said on the Debono case.

Said lambasted the government for what he described as the “political advantage” of the situation. 

“The government is not fighting abuse but it is making use of these allegations to gain political points because we are in the middle of the local councils election,” he said, adding that it was a government trait to hit out at the Opposition whenever the government was with its back to the wall.

His comments prompted Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to declare that the government had nothing to fear and the police were free to investigate as they deemed fit.

“Chris Said and Simon Busuttil had been approached by the whistleblower at least a year ago and over but they didn’t take any action. Why?” Muscat hit back in Nadur. “If you knew why didn’t you report it? Why didn’t you go to the authorities after someone told you that work was carried out in private places in return for votes?”

The government also issued a statement, calling on the opposition to pass on any information it may have: “It has now emerged that the PN leader and the secretary general had received information of the abuse that went on under the previous administration. It was their choice not to report that information when they met the whistleblower around two years ago.”

It reiterated its appeal for anyone with any information to come forward and avail themselves of the Whistleblowers Act.

The PN replied by stating that Muscat was “no longer a journalist, but a Prime Minister, and his interests should lie in seeing justice served”.

“According to the government, the contractor had been acting as a whistleblower for over a year, which means that Muscat hadn’t truly first heard about the case from the media as he had claimed,” the PN said.

In a second statement accusing Muscat of acting as judge and prosecutor, the PN said the Prime Minister should not interfere in the ongoing investigation.

The PN said Muscat had yet to explain when Refalo had become aware of the case and what action did Muscat take when Refalo approached him with the case.

It went on to question whether Muscat would now become “Anton Refalo’s defence lawyer” as well.