Andy Ellul announces imminent NAO investigation into Malita Investments

Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul has announced the imminent National Audit Office investigation into Malita Investments plc’s operations.

“I was informed by my Permanent Secretary on Wednesday the NAO had informed him that an investigation will be launched,” Ellul said.

He was interviewed by Saviour Balzan on TVM’s XTRA, shortly after taking over the housing portfolio from former minister Roderick Galdes.

Galdes resigned as minister late on Saturday after months of dominating headlines due to his dubious property dealings and allegations of hobnobbing with contractors.

Welcoming the inquiry, Ellul said the investigation will give him “peace of mind”. He said government will collaborate fully with the investigation.

Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul was interviewed by Saviour Balzan (left)

“At the end of the day this is a company with its own board of directors, there is a chairperson, and now we will let the investigations pan out,” he said.

Questions over Malita Investments plc’s operations were initially raised by former chairwoman and Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, who had claimed her removal in 2024 came shortly after she objected to ministerial interference in the state-owned company’s operations.

She had claimed her dismissal in May 2024 came “a few weeks after a meeting” at Galdes’s office during which she challenged what she described as his “interference in the workings of a plc” and his close contact with contractors engaged by the company.

“I stood up to him,” she said. “Evidently, he was not amused.”

Galdes had denied the allegations, saying any communication came to reduce delays and ensure the public housing projects progressed at a pace that is acceptable for the families awaiting them.

Shortly after, the Nationalist Party (PN), through its members of the Public Accounts Committee, had requested the NAO investigate the company’s operations.

The PN insisted the government must immediately take all necessary steps to ensure the full truth emerges regarding the decisions taken in this sector and the intentions behind them.

Momentum's Arnold Cassola requested a standards investigation into the accusations against Galdes.

Roderick Galdes has since resigned from the post following fresh allegations involving his brother. It was revealed Galdes’s brother was a “close business partner” of the owner of a company awarded social housing contracts.

According to Abela, none of these controversies led to the minster’s resignation, claiming that he resigned because he didn’t want allegations to dampen government’s work.