Chamber slams decision to pardon benefit fraudsters
Business lobby says integrity of Michael Falzon’s ministry been called into question
The presidential pardon granted to social benefit fraudsters further reinforces a culture of impunity and has also undermined Malta’s new president, the Malta Chamber said yesterday.
“Government needs to be on the side of what is right and send clear signals that it will not come to the rescue of abusers or restrain those who want to set things straight,” the Chamber said.
“This is what good governance is about. Anything short of this will come across as pandering to the masses and playing for time, which is running out.”
The Chamber’s statement comes two days after Times of Malta revealed that hundreds of people who have admitted to claiming severe disability benefits they were not entitled to will receive a presidential pardon.
The decision prompted outrage among some quarters, with some criticising President Myriam Spiteri Debono for it. In reality, despite its name, a presidential pardon is recommended by the cabinet of ministers, with the president formally signing it.
Speaking on Friday, the prime minister defended the decision to issue the pardons by saying many of the fraudsters did not know they were breaking the law and had gone through “trauma” when they found out.
The fraud is believed to have lasted years and cost taxpayers upwards of €5 million. Beneficiaries have told police that they were helped to register for the benefits by Labour Party officials, including former MP Silvio Grixti and ministerial driver Roger Agius.
Agius’s lawyer has claimed in court that a top official at Michael Falzon’s social policy ministry, Mark Calleja, played a key role in the fraud.
Falzon has insisted he knew nothing about the scheme but stopped short of defending Calleja.
The Chamber expressed incredulity that the scheme could operate for years “without anyone batting an eyelid”.
That, it said, “indicates that there is no accountability, as well as no internal auditing systems to detect and deter abuse, and that people are either actively involved in fraudulent activities and profiting from them, or they have grown accustomed to seeing them occur.
“Like the three monkeys, they see no evil, hear no evil, and say nothing about it,” the Chamber said.
The integrity of everyone involved in the payments – including Falzon’s ministry – has been put into “considerable question”, it said.
The Chamber fears many of the fraudsters given a presidential pardon are now being lined up for jobs in the public sector.
“Bearing in mind that the public service is the largest employer, one hopes that this urgency to cleanse the conduct of people who abused from social benefits is not intended to facilitate a quick transition from dependency on benefits to recruitment with the public service, whether directly or through agencies,” it said.
It also expressed concern about the growing habit of turning top jobs at government authorities and agencies into a game of musical chairs, with occupants moving from one entity to the other after a few months.
“The practice of leveraging resignations to give the impression that action is being done, discourages capable people from taking on these crucial roles and executing the significant reforms required to shift course,” it said, noting that people who only occupy these key roles for a few months do not have enough time to take charge and identify systematic abusive practices.
“Like the three monkeys, they see no evil, hear no evil, and say nothing about it