Disgraced former minister Justyne Caruana could be set to pocket a €30,000 golden handshake following her forced resignation. 

Caruana was forced to resign in the wake of a damning Standards Commissioner report into a €5,000 a month contract she handed out to her boyfriend, former footballer Daniel Bogdanovic. Caruana and the contract are now subject to a criminal investigation.

Sources have since told Lovin Malta that Caruana is now set to benefit from a handsome retirement package, as part of an arrangement granted to all Cabinet members who either resign or are replaced during a reshuffle. 

Cabinet Secretary Mario Cutajar has refused to confirm or deny the €30,000 package when asked by The Shift News. 

This will be the second time in less than two years that Caruana benefits from the golden handshake, having pocketed some €28,000 after her first resignation from Cabinet in 2020.

It was first revealed in March that Caruana had granted Bogdanovic, her boyfriend, a three-month contract worth €15,000 to visit government schools and draft recommendations on how to improve the national sports school’s ability to produce elite athletes. The Education Ministry had denied the claims just a month before.

Bogdanovic was an elite athlete in his own right, playing for the likes of Barnsley, Sheffield United and Blackpool in his prime. However, his contract with the Education Ministry raised eyebrows given his lack of pedagogical qualifications and his personal relationship with the Minister. 

The direct order, which involved work Bogdanovic never actually conducted, has been flagged as a clear “abuse of power” by Caruana.

Caruana was reinstated to the Cabinet in November 2020 following a reshuffle. She had returned after being ousted at the start of the year following her now-estranged husband’s links to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He is believed to have leaked sensitive information to Yorgen Fenech, the suspected mastermind, and the hired hitmen, including their impending arrests, and Daphne’s movements in the lead up to her murder.

Caruana remains an MP, but has said she will not contest in the next general election. She has also taken the Standards Commissioner to court over the report. 

What do you think of the deal?