Education minister drops case after filing stalking report against Bogdanovic-ex

Education minister Justyne Caruana has withdrawn a criminal complaint she filed in Gozo against the ex-wife of footballer Daniel Bogdanovic, as well as her sister, over allegations of stalking.

Sources said Bogdanovic’s former wife had followed her husband to the Gozo ferry where she photographed him in the company of Caruana. A criminal complaint was later filed with the police. MaltaToday understands that the police inspector who issued the charges, Josef Gauci, is also the brother of Caruana’s assistant private secretary at the education ministry, Steven Gauci, a person of trust.

The case was expected to be heard on Tuesday morning, with the woman expected to be charged with stalking, harassment, causing fear of violence, as well as uttering insults and threats. The charges, issued against Alison Bogdanovic and her sister Valerie, have now been withdrawn.

However MaltaToday understands that Bogdanovic was ready to present a list of 40 witnesses in her defence, as well as witnesses from the bank where her sister is employed, where she claims superiors broached the personal issue in a bid to suborn her.

Bogdanovic, a close friend of Caruana, was granted a €15,000 direct order to provide a three-month review of sports curricula in the national sports college. The contract was repealed by the government upon being revealed by MaltaToday. An ethics investigation by the Standards Commissioner was requested into the contract, which has since been repealed.

Daniel Bogdanovic, a former Malta international footballer, obtained a government job in 2019 through the GWU-managed Community Workers Scheme, with the Gozo ministry. In December 2020, he was reported to be working as a ‘sports educator’, according to government records. Then on 21 January 2021, he got a new contract of service to provide an overview of the modus operandi of the Skola Nazzjonali tal-iSport, at €5,000 a month to assess the standards of academic and sports curriculum at the school. The minister responsible was Justyne Caruana.