Parliamentary Secretary Clayton Bartolo has terminated Adrian Hillman's consultancy contracts with the Malta Gaming Authority in a show of "zero tolerance" to anyone tarnishing the industry's reputation.
In a tweet late on Thursday, Bartolo said the former Allied Newspapers managing director has been taking payments intended for a private company through consultancies from the gaming authority.
"I've ordered this contract to be terminated immediately as a show of zero tolerance to potentially damaging behaviour to such a crucial industry," the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Digital Economy said.
Hillman was earning €4,000 a month from a government consultancy job at the authority.
MGA had appointed Hillman to manage its reputation at a time when he was subject of a magisterial inquiry on claims of money laundering. He was doing the job as a result of a direct order given to him on the instructions of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Hillman had resigned his post as managing director of Allied Newspapers, publishers of Times of Malta, soon after his name surfaced in the Panama Papers leaks. A report commissioned by Allied Newspapers on Hillman has never been published.
Documents showed that Hillman owned secret companies in the British Virgin Islands, similar to the ones set up in Panama by Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna for Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
In comments to the media, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that he had been consulted by Bartolo before the decision was taken, and he had agreed that the contract had to be terminated.
Asked whether Hillman will continue to be the government's representative on the American University of Malta board, Abela said that all decisions that need to be taken will be taken.
He said would not label it as a "general clean-up", but as part of changes that needed to be made.
Times of Malta later quoted a government spokeserson as saying that Hillman would be removed from the AUM board of trustees.
Hillman reacts
In a statement, Hillman described Bartolo’s tweet as a “personal attack.”
He said Bartolo's predecessor, former Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri (now Economy Minister), was aware of his role with the MGA. He also accused Bartolo of making a libellous statement.
"While he has every right to execute his role as he sees appropriate, his methods do not befit a politician in his position. In making a public statement full of insinuations, he is attempting to destroy a single individual. To him, I am guilty by association with members within his own party. He must be conscious that his predecessor was cognisant of my role over the past years. My understanding is that what he is saying is libellous. He must therefore retract and clarify his statement. I will be acting accordingly."