PN say action against Debono dependant on police investigations

The Nationalist Party will wait for the outcome of a police investigation before deciding whether to take any action against MP and former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco said.

“It is still too early to tell whether there’s enough proof of Debono’s husband’s involvement in the case,” de Marco said when asked by MaltaToday. “It is only fair to allow the police to interrogate who they want and let their investigations run their course before deciding what steps to take.”

Last week, MaltaToday published an e-mail by a Gozitan contractor turned whistleblower to PN secretary general Chris Said that listed what he described as “works for votes” that he had carried out before the election and for which he has not been paid. PN say action against Debono dependant on e investigations

The email, dated May 2014, was one of the many pleas that Joe Cauchi had been making for due payments of €50,000 in works commissioned by the Gozo ministry for private constituents. It also referred to Giovanna Debono’s husband, Anthony.

However, Said insisted that he had no need to inform the police of the e-mail’s contents because he had “no proof of any abuse” and encouraged the police to extend their investigations to beyond March 2013.

“Cauchi was asking for my intervention for monies owed by third parties,” Said said. “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.”

MaltaToday earlier revealed that Anthony Debono, then an officer in charge at the Gozo ministry’s works division, had assigned construction jobs to private contractors for work carried out for constituents on the 13th district. 

Gozo Minister Anton Refalo admitted that he was made aware of the contractor’s claims in November. Labour CEO Gino Cauchi said that Refalo proceeded to pass on the contractor’s allegations to the Whistleblower’s Office.

When MaltaToday broke the story earlier this month, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said that he found out about the story from the newspaper itself. The next day, the police had interrogated various officials at the Gozo ministry.

“Muscat must explain when he first got to know of the case, and whether he had lied when he had said that the government first got to know of the allegations through MaltaToday’s report,” the PN said in a statement. “Why didn’t the government go straight to the police when it first got to know of the case? The way Muscat is defending Refalo raises serious questions.”

They pointed out that the details of Busuttil’s meeting with Joe Cachia, including the e-mail that passed between them, were published in the Times of Malta today.

“Muscat has either not read this explanation or is trying to twist the truth,” the party said.