A board of inquiry has been set up to, among other things, investigate procedures in place at MCAST, after a manager was charged with defrauding €2.3 million from the education institution.
Francine Farrugia, who worked as a finance manager at MCAST, was on Thursday charged with misappropriating €2.3 million from the educational institution. Farrugia has denied the charges that were filed against her, pleading not guilty.
Farrugia was a Nationalist Party local councillor and a one-time general election candidate. She has been suspended from her job and has resigned from all of her positions within the PN, including as a local councillor in Siggiewi.
On Saturday, the Education Ministry announced that it was setting up an "independent board of inquiry under the Inquiries Act", regarding the alleged case of fraud and misappropriation of public funds from MCAST. It said that the inquiry will work in a way that does not prejudice or interfere with investigations or other pending legal procedures related to the case.
Education Minister Clifton Grima appointed former Judge Antonio Mizzi as Chairman of the Board of Inquiry, which will include two more members.
The inquiry, the ministry said, is to "establish the facts, processes, procedures, and MCAST systems related to payroll, and identify administrative, civil and/or criminal responsibilities where applicable."
It is also to "verify whether there was any relationship between decisions or actions taken by MCAST officials and the alleged case of fraud and misappropriation of public funds." The inquiry is also to examine MCAST's current systems and see whether they provide automatic mechanisms to identify suspicious activity or poor governance, the ministry's statement read.
The Board is expected to then deliver the conclusions and necessary recommendations, both regulatory and administrative, aimed at strengthening governance and accountability at MCAST, the statement added.
"The Board of Inquiry is authorised to appoint experts where needed and must present its report to the Minister within no more than six weeks from the date of its appointment," the ministry said.
The Minister said that MCAST's autonomy will remain respected and that the process will be carried out in collaboration with the Internal Audit and Compliance Directorate within the Ministry, with the support of the Internal Audit and Investigations Department.