MFSA board member, former Justice Minister and veteran lawyer Joe Brincat has sent a judicial letter to the authority’s CEO over a golden handshake allegedly given to an employee, saying that the payment was a breach of the rule of law that brought shame upon the government’s administration of the country.

Although not specifically stated in it, the protest would appear to be a reaction to the recent retirement and re-recruitment of George Spiteri, the MFSA’s former human resources director, who earlier this month was paid over €150,000 to retire, only to be re-employed in the same position by an offshoot of the financial services regulator. Spiteri was personally involved in the drafting of the rules which regulated his own retirement.

In the protest, filed before the First Hall of the Civil Court this morning, Brincat states that as a member of the Board, if he becomes aware of a future crime, he is obliged to do everything in his power to stop it – or face criminal liability himself.

Part of the MFSA’s funding comes from the Consolidated Fund, the allocation of which is subject to specific votes in parliament, said Brincat. Consequently, nobody has the right to contradict the will of Parliament and its authorisation and utilise the funds in a manner different to that authorised by the Parliament.

“It was recently made public knowledge that you offered payment of a golden handshake to an employee of MFSA (apart from the fact that that the system of early retirement has nothing to do with the case at hand)…and are attempting to arrive at an agreement on the basis of paying a golden handshake and ending the employment relationship,” reads the judicial protest.

“But there is no vote passed through Parliament and neither was there provided that this payment for termination of employment would happen.”

In order for such a payment to take place, money must be redirected from other projects, said the lawyer, arguing that “this is a crime because the money that was entrusted to use should be used for specific purposes and were not a ‘blank cheque’ in your hands.”

Article 294 of the Criminal Code makes it an aggravated offence to misappropriate funds “entrusted or delivered to the offender by reason of his profession, trade, business, management, office or service…” and is prosecutable ex officio (without the need for a report to be filed). It is punishable by imprisonment for a term from seven months to two years.

The judicial protest calls on MFSA CEO Joe Cuschieri personally and in his capacity as a representative of the Authority to desist from paying the golden handshake, admonishing him that “this is certainly not a private sector or personal business of yours.”

The control of public spending was a basic principle of the rule of law, said the lawyer, arguing that if the administrate felt unbound by regulation, it would destroy every principle of regulated conviviality in a society, aside from bringing shame on the governmental administration.” The action had opened up the government to attacks from the press and political rivals “when you know that no member of government is to blame,” Brincat said.

As a parting shot, the lawyer said that besides Cuschieri and the Attorney General, he had also notified the Auditor General “to exercise his duties before public funds are spent without any legal control or authorisation, as well as examining monies spent by the Consolidated Fund in general over the last few months.”