Scandal At Malta Enterprise As Whistleblower Complaint Goes Missing
A Malta Enterprise whistleblower complaint about the underhanded editing of investment committee minutes by the current Chief Operating Officer is mysteriously unaccounted for.
In October 2016, ME Board Secretary Jesmond Silvio, who was also ME’s internal auditor at the time, edited the minutes of the investment committee and altered incentive packages despite votes made by the board and the committee.
This means that in essence, ME was able to change incentive packages regardless of how the board voted. The authority only became aware of the changes after an employee within the Project Evaluation team confirmed the actions.
‘We cannot present a set of cards and then switch the cards at a whim,’ sources said.
Members of the investment committee and the board were reportedly shocked by Silvio actions requesting that such issues get remedied.
Meanwhile, the ME has insisted that the authority did not receive any whistleblower complaints since 2016. However, the newsroom has seen emails detailing a whistleblower complaint in November of that year.
The whistleblower complaint specifically outlines how Silvio, along with two other individuals from the Project evaluation department, altered and placed further restrictions upon an investor beyond what was approved by board members and the investment committee. The complaint went directly to the CEO, the ME board, and Economy Minister Chris Cardona.
Sources explained how the complaint had been suppressed by ME’s CEO Mario Galea, who was described as having a lack of direction and mishandling the agency’s resources and personnel.
“I’m not sure if every place has the same work culture, but I would not wish that environment on my worst enemies. Underhanded, backstabbing, unprofessional…the list goes on,” sources said.
The irony, of course, is that in his role as Internal Auditor, Silvio was tasked with ensuring that the irregularities do not occur.
Silvio has since been promoted to ME’s Chief Operating Officer while also retaining his role as ME’s internal auditor.
Lovin Malta’s FOI request for copies of board and committee meetings was refused, with ME explaining that it would be in breach of confidentiality. ME have also said it was unaware of the claims.
Caption Photo: Malta Enterprise (Source: Malta Enterprise) with email excerpts
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