Led by the nose: how President George Abela was duped into believing a senior civil servant leaked sensitive documents

MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan was yesterday summoned to the Office of the Prime Minister to answer to allegations made by Mizzi, to the effect that he had met with Olaph Terribile, the former secretary to the Presidency.

The allegation specifically indicated that Terribile had passed on official documents to Balzan, leading Abela to call for an inquiry into the alleged leak.

Investigations by this newspaper have revealed that the fabrication was a result of a private conversation last Wednesday at one of the tables during a State dinner in honour of visiting Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

The conversation was between a number of guests that included Malta Independent acting editor Noel Grima, who incidentally sat a few seats away from Marica Mizzi.

As a conversation ensued over MaltaToday’s stories on irregularities within the Office of the President, Grima reportedly admitted that he had met Olaph Terribile some days earlier, and that he (Terribile) “had a file” in hand.

Mizzi, who is company secretary to a beleaguered production company that was ‘absorbed’ into the Office of the President, reportedly delivered the allegation that Olaph Terribile had met with Saviour Balzan and not with Noel Grima, while also adding that Terribile had passed on documents.

It then took Abela almost two days pondering what to do about this information, and decided to write to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Friday morning, and received a reply later in the day, saying that an inquiry was to be set up to investigate the allegation.

Senior officials told this newspaper that Abela may have been apprehensive about rumours that MaltaToday had a “big story” to break in its Sunday edition, and hastily decided to call a press conference at 4pm last Saturday to announce the inquiry before government before it had been established. The move was described by government sources as a deliberate ‘arm twister’.

Questioned on Saturday, President Abela could not provide any answers as to what the inquiry’s terms of reference were, and who was to head it. Neither did Martin Bugelli, the Director General for Government Information who sat next to the President during the press conference. He said: “I do not have any information to give, neither on who will head the inquiry, perhaps you will have some information next week…”

The President – who admitted that the report to Castille was filed by a member of his staff, stopping short of naming Marica Mizzi, who was in the same room – refused to say what was in the documents that were allegedly leaked when asked by MaltaToday.

MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan, who was summoned to testify before the inquiry, categorically stated that he never met Olaph Terribile, and was never given any documents by the same.

Noel Grima was summoned on Monday, and – in subsequent comments to MaltaToday – stressed his disgust at Marica Mizzi’s fabrication.

Contacted, Grima branded Marica Mizzi as a “blatant liar”, adding that all those who are invited to the Palace must “beware of being recorded, misinterpreted or having his conversations transcribed and passed on to the President.”

Mizzi’s fabrication has generated an unprecedented fall out for the Office of the President. President Abela appears to have based his declaration of having “no faith” in former aide Olaph Terribile, on the sole premise that what Marica Mizzi told him was true.

The statement raised many eyebrows in government circles, as Olaph Terribile is known for his long-standing loyalty after 30 years of service to the country. Terribile was also supposed to take up the position as Malta’s new Deputy High Commissioner to London later this month.

Meanwhile, President George Abela has kept silent on the real reasons behind the fall-out with Olaph Terribile, and has not to date commented about the allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities at the Palace.

Neither the ADC Capt Mark Mallia, nor the president’s secretary (also his first cousin) Richard Dimech returned our calls or responded to our emails and messages. MaltaToday asked for a breakdown of salaries that the Office of the President is paying to all staff in the Presidents secretariat, who are almost all contracted from outside the Civil Service, with salaries understood to be much higher than the norm.