Malta’s police will open up a criminal investigation into Education Justyne Caruana and the €5,000 a month contract she handed out to her boyfriend, former footballer Daniel Bogdanovic. 

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler requested police open up an investigation in his report into the issue, where he concluded that “Caruana used her discretion in a way that constitutes an abuse of power, and broke with the ministerial code of ethics”.

Police have confirmed with Lovin Malta that an investigation is underway.

“All allegations of a criminal nature are investigated by the police,” a police spokesperson said.

In March, it was revealed 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 did not even author said recommendations, with the report actually being done by one of Caruana’s consultants, Paul Debattista.

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

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 report also confirmed that Bogdanovic served other roles in the ministry, including technical work, photocopies, taking visitors’ temperature, etc. It did not mention what his remuneration was. 

Sources had previously detailed 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.

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