The administration at the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS) was aware that cheques for payment to suppliers and contractors were handed to Edward Caruana, the court heard this afternoon.

Caruana, a former canvasser for Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, was at the time an official at the FTS. He is facing charges of bribery.

The compilation of evidence against Caruana continued today.

Brian Giorgio, an employee at FTS, testified that he had started working with the foundation in 2006.

He explained that his job was to “take care of the accounting system”, by making sure that payment claims were correct and that any work was done to foundation’s satisfaction.

Once the quality of the work was ascertained, the claim would be posted to the system and payment would be issued by cheque, which was passed on to his superiors to be signed.

Giorgio testified that he had been approached by Caruana and told that he wished for the cheques to be handed to him.

“[He asked to be given the cheques] so that he could better coordinate the work he was responsible for. It was an unusual request and I informed the Chief Finance Officer (CFO Chris Pullicino,” Giorgio said, adding that as far as he was aware, Pullilcino had informed then CEO Anthony Muscat.

“I was then told I could pass on the cheques,” Giorgio said.   

He said that under normal circumstances, once the cheque was signed by the CFO or the chairman, suppliers were notified and told that they needed to pick up their cheque and provide the foundation with a VAT receipt.

Once the receipt was provided, suppliers would also be asked to sign a register showing that the cheque had been collected.

Asked by the prosecution whether he remembered whether he had asked Caruana to sign the register, Giorgio said he could not remember but added that he did not dwell too much on the matter since his superiors had been informed of the modus operandi being used.

Receipts for cheques given to Caruana were collected by Caruana himself, he added. 

Joseph Caruana, Edward Caruana’s brother, and the former permanent secretary at the Education Ministry, told the court that he remembered sending an email to then Police Commissioner Michael Cassar on 18 April 2015 following a report which appeared in The Sunday Times of Malta.

He asked the commissioner to investigate the allegations made by the article.

Joseph Caruana said that he had emailed Cassar once again to remind him to investigate, after subsequent articles appeared in the Times of Malta and in-Nazzjon the following week.

He said that on 28 April he was called in for questioning by Inspector Rennie Stivala who asked him to give an account of what had happened. “From then on it was in the police’s hands,” he said.

Inspector Rennie Stivala is prosecuting. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and John Gauci appeared for Edward Caruana.