Cabinet members are still using their personal emails for official work despite the National Audit Office warning against the practice five years ago, an Opposition MP has warned.

Writing on social media, Azzopardi published screenshots showing that Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services Clayton Bartolo both listed their private emails as their point of contact on their respective profiles on the Maltese Parliament website.

“This is completely wrong, unacceptable & a sure way to avoid audit trails. Govt Ministers brazenly promoting private email for their Govt work.”

“Robert Abela: do you condone this? Of course, you do. You do it too, exactly like your corrupt predecessor”

“People trying to hide something have something to hide!” he said.

The issue of cabinet members using their personal emails for official business. Using a personal email allows cabinet members to communicate undetected with no oversight.

In the aftermath of the Cafe Premier scandal in February 2015, the NAO raised concerns over then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat using his personal email, [email protected] for government business.  Despite the warnings, Muscat continued to do so.

The Office of the Prime Minister made widespread use of private email servers while in their official roles. Beyond Muscat, his former chief of staff Keith Schembri, and personal assistant Ray Barbara all using their @josephmuscat.com emails.

In one instance, [email protected] and [email protected], which belong to Muscat and Schembri respectively, were even allegedly used to plot “SLAPP lawsuits against Caruana Galizia.

Lovin Malta recently revealed that Muscat has continued using the email beyond his resignation, sending out a mailshot to any prominent international businessmen linked to Malta.