Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Philip von Brockdorff said that on 26 December 2002 Mr Naudi made an official proposal for a television programme regarding local tomatoes that would cost Lm20,700.

A voucher funded by the EU was made out and Mr von Brockdorff said he was led to believe that Mr Naudi was responsible for this money and used some of it for his personal interests.

The witness explained he asked Pierre Pace of the Internal Audit Investigations Directorate for a detailed account of how Mr Naudi had spent the Lm20,700 entrusted to him.

Mr Pace drew up a report in which he claimed Mr Naudi did not cooperate and therefore said he had no other choice but to file a police report on the matter.

Corporate Services assistant director Joseph Micallef also took the stand and confirmed that the voucher was issued in December 2002 to subsidise a television programme on tomatoes and local products.

A key player in the discovery of this alleged crime was an accountant, Adrian Paul Sciberras. Speaking in court, he said the money from the EU was deposited into a Bank of Valletta account and Mr Naudi had signed for the deposit.

Lm20,700 were then withdrawn from this account and deposited into another four accounts of Mr Naudi’s. When asked how the money was spent, Mr Sciberras said that among other things, a Jeep Cherokee was bought in the name of Jennifer Muscat.

Inspector Bernard Zarb prosecuted while Dr Giannella Caruana Curran appeared for the accused.