Malta’s Standards Commissioner has asked police to open up a criminal investigation into a contract Education Minister Justyne Caruana handed out to her boyfriend, former footballer Daniel Bogdanovic.

According to The Times of Malta, Standards Commissioner George Hyzler has recommended a police investigation after looking into the contract, which saw him earn €15,000 over three months to visit government schools and draft recommendations on how to improve the national sports school’s ability to produce elite athletes.

Hyzler reportedly believes that there was a  “concerted effort to hide Bogdanovic’s incompetence” with his work, which was actually being conducted by  Paul Debattista.

“In fact, there is almost no proof of Bogdanovic’s involvement [in the report for draft recommendations],” the report reads.

“It is my understanding that Minister Justyne Caruana used her discretion in a way that constitutes abuse of power, and broke with the ministerial code of ethics, by giving preferential treatment to Daniel Bogdanovic, and in particular by giving Bogdanovic a contract by direct order that he was neither qualified for or competent to carry out.”

Both Caruana and Bogdanovic reportedly denied being in an intimate relationship.

The report also confirmed that Bogdanovic served other roles in the ministry, which included technical work, photocopies, taking visitors temperature, among other things. It did not mention what his remuneration was. 

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. 

Caruana was hospitalised soon after the initial reports, following claims of tensions within the ministry due to the revelations.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said he scrapped the controversial contact “as soon as [he] found out about it”. However, the government gazette suggests that Bogdanovic was still paid. 

Bogdanovic has continued working within the Ministry since the initial revelations, with sources detailing how the pair have been seen together in and around the ministerial building, working on the same floor. They have even accompanied one another to school visits. 

He is now Caruana’s partner after she separated from former Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta.

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. 

Should Caruana resign?