[WATCH] Google finance shadow group had privacy settings set to ‘public’

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Two of three public officials who allegedly passed on sensitive information to the PN’s shadow finance group are under investigation, MaltaToday has learned.

Carlos Camenzuli, manager at the National Statistics Office is on half pay while Chris Pace, manager at the Central Bank, is on unpaid leave pending investigation.
 

The permanent secretary within the Finance Ministry has asked each entity to conduct it own independent investigation. The investigations are being carried out separately by each entity.

Yesterday, GWU newspaper It-Torca, alleged that a group of public officials forming part of a Google Group on the PN's shadow finance group would pass on sensitive financial information from the NSO before this was even published or sent to the government itself.

Fenech categorically denied that “any information which was not already public information had been shared” with him via the group. He said he had no idea as to how it-Torca got hold of this information, but added that “the fact that the members are under attack and portrayed as spies is unacceptable. This is pure intimidation by the Prime Minister.”

It now transpires that the Google Group – set up to discuss party strategy on finance matters with Tonio Fenech – had its privacy settings set to ‘public’. According to PN deputy leader Mario de Marco, this proved “how much there was no spying going on”.

He however later admitted that he didn’t know whether the privacy setting was purposely set to public but reiterated that there was nothing illegal going on. 

“The PN has several discussion fora and Google is simply an alternative means of communication,” de Marco said. “Fenech, as an MP who isn’t a minister or a parliamentary secretary, doesn’t have a secretariat to assist him and therefore relies on the assistance of a team of volunteers.”  

“The Torca article simply said that a group of people helped Fenech compose a press release condemning the government’s decision not to re-appoint [former NSO director-general] Michael Pace Ross,” de Marco said. “It was already public knowledge by then. What information did they leak?”

Addressing a press conference at the PN headquarters, de Marco and fellow deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami accused the government of intimidation and called on the Central Bank and the National Statistics Office to reverse their decision to suspend the workers.

“They didn’t even hold an inquiry as to whether the workers had done anything illegal, but simply succumbed to Joseph Muscat’s pressure,” Fenech Adami said, accusing Muscat of embarking on a witch-hunt and the GWU of acting as a “puppet for the Labour Party” rather than as a union that safeguards workers’ rights.

De Marco and Fenech Adami said that the officials did not “leak any sensitive information” and they did not breach the civil code of ethics.

“How does giving an opinion on a decision not to reinstate Pace Ross constitute a breach of the civil code?” De Marco questioned. “Indeed, the civil code says that active participation in the political well-being of the country should be encouraged.

“Their suspension is nothing less than political discrimination, intended to intimidate and silence the Nationalist Party. Everybody

The PN said they would take the case before the European Commission and the European Central Bank over breach of independence by the Central Bank and the National Statistics Office.

It-Torca yesterday claimed that the public officials not only breached their code of ethics by revealing the data but given that the communications took place in the morning, this wrongdoing was carried out during office hours.

However, De Marco dismissed that claim as one that “appeared to be false”. Instead, he turned the tables on Muscat’s personal assistant Glenn Bedingfield for hosting a morning programme on ONE TV and on government customer care chief Sandro Craus for hosting people at PL centres during office hours.

Among others, Fenech would liaise with Pace, MFSA communications chief Keith Zahra and Camenzuli. Zahra was responsible for public relations when Fenech was finance minister until 28 January 2013, when he was employed by the MFSA. Camenzuli on the other hand saw his contract with NSO extended on the 28 February 2013, only a week prior to the general elections. 

The group advised Fenech on the decisions taken by the Labour government and the preferable course of action for the opposition.