Former Labour Party general secretary investigated for corruption

The former executive secretary of the Local Councils Association was being investigated by the police force’s Economic Crimes Unit after the Permanent Commission against Corruption concluded he had asked for money during a tendering process related to waste, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici revealed on Wednesday.

The minister delivered an official statement in Parliament over the findings of the Commission’s report and said the government would be taking all possible disciplinary action against Jimmy Magro – the person implicated in the Commission’s investigation – now that it had received the full report.

Magro was general secretary of the Labour Party between 1991 and 2003.

“Rest assured that anyone involved in corruption will not find a wall to hide behind,” he said. “Talking is cheap, but this government will be judged on the actions it is taking in cases like this.”

Bonnici said that Jimmy Magro had been appointed as executive secretary of the LCA on 1 July 2007 and that contrary what some persons testified during the investigation, Magro was not a ‘person of trust’ with the government.

Under our watch the anti-corruption institutions are working because there is political will to combat wrong-doing.

— Owen Bonnici (@OwenBonnici) February 1, 2017

Under our watch, anti-corruption body already issued 8 reports. In previous legislature, it was completely dormant. This is the difference.

— Owen Bonnici (@OwenBonnici) February 1, 2017

Nationalist Party reaction

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that the Commission’s report and the IAID investigation on the former general secretary of the Labour Party was further confirmation of how the current government was the most corrupt in Malta’s history.

The PN welcomed minister Owen Bonnici’s commitment to take disciplinary action against Jimmy Magro, who allegedly asked for money during a tendering process.

The party challenged Bonnici to take the same action in the case of Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and Minister Konrad Mizzi, who were discovered to have opened secret accounts in Panama.

Another day, another scandal. Now it's former PL Sec Gen Jimmy Magro caught asking for €25,000 for a local council contract. #rockbottom

— Simon Busuttil (@SimonBusuttil) February 1, 2017

“On 1 June 2013, when his employment expired, Magro was appointed as part-time Special Advisor to the association,” he said.

In its report, the Commission found that Magro had asked for money when a tender related to waste was being adjudicated between July and August 2014, although it pointed out that no money seemed to have actually changed hands.

Bonnici said that, in mid-2015, the director general of the EU Funds Programme had passed on to the Internal Audit and Investigations Department the initial allegations of irregularities within the ALC.

The findings of the IAID were forwarded to the Attorney General, who passed on the case to the Economic Crimes Unit of the Police force in December 2016.

The minister said that, since February 2014, Magro had been detailed with Malta Enterprise.