The second alleged crime is that of making a false oath, which is punishable by a jail term of between four months to one year if the oath is required by law or ordered by a court, or imprisonment not exceeding three months if the oath isn’t required.

The third alleged crime is that of making false declarations or information to a public authority, a crime which bears with it a prison sentence for a term not exceeding two years or a fine.

Besides Caruana herself, Azzopardi said Bogdanovic and the Education Ministry’s permanent secretary Frank Fabri can also face these charges.

“If [police commissioner] Angelo Gafa wakes up from his Castille-induced coma, all three of them can spend up to six years in prison,” he said in a Facebook post.

“This case is way more serious than Castille wants you to believe it is. [Prime Minister] Robert Abela is so compromised and blackmailed that he cannot even take steps in a case of crime in his Cabinet.”

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler recently concluded a report into a €15,000 three-month contract that Caruana gave Bogdanovic to visit government schools and draft recommendations on how to improve the national sports school’s ability to produce elite athletes.

He requested the police open an investigation into the issue, concluded that Caruana “used her discretion in a way that constitutes an abuse of power, and broke with the ministerial code of ethics”.

Hyzler also found that Bogdanovic did not even author the recommendations himself, with the report actually being carried out by one of Caruana’s consultants, Paul Debattista.

“In fact, there is almost no proof of Bogdanovic’s involvement,” Hyzler’s report reads.

Police have confirmed they opened an investigation.

Do you think Justyne Caruana should resign?