From the mayor of Mosta Dr P. Chetcuti Caruana

It is very strange how you came to the conclusion that I am deeply distraught. For your information and for the right information to reach your readers, I am at peace with God and my family and shall ever be.

First of all it is unethical, and I would say unlawful, to comment on a case that is still under police investigation. A written complaint has already been filed with the Commissioner of Police and Inspector Ian Abdilla of the Fraud Squad is actively dealing with the matter.

It is not true, as you implied in your article, precisely in the second paragraph, that the cash was derived mostly from fines or licences. It was, in fact, cash derived solely from fines due to other local councils and not the usual fines channelled to the Kumitat Kongunt (LES). Moreover, these were not paid recently as you asserted, but date back to December 2006 and January. I was elected mayor and assumed office in mid-April and immediately started, as I promised during my maiden speech, that everything would be above board and transparent.

Proof that your informant gave you the wrong information is the very fact that there is more than cash missing!

Another slip in your third paragraph is when you said that the key of the local council safe was not found. This is not true as the key has always been in the possession of the executive secretary. Further comments at this stage could prejudice police investigation.

May I also inform you that, contrary to what was stated in the last paragraph, the council’s cash was never audited in March. A very grave slip indeed. Not only that, but to my surprise and to the surprise of my private auditors to whom I entrusted a full office audit, not from January but as from the first days of the Mosta local council, we found that our accountant arbitrarily and wrongly chose to ignore these fines and not include them in the audited report.

Also, the government auditor who came in July noticed these shortcomings and to this day the director of local councils has still not taken appropriate action, stating that the executive secretary has still not sent him the management letter.

Hence your article of 29 July was full of misinformation and biased against me and the Malta Labour Party.

Paul Chetcuti Caruana

MOSTA