Rita Schembri still Brait director, despite civil service head’s ‘suspension’

The permanent secretary for governance and internal audit Rita Schembri is still officially a non-executive director of Brait SE, despite having had her permit revoked by the head of the civil service, hot on the heels of an investigation by the Auditor General into an alleged breach of ethics.

Schembri, 46, the head of the OPM's Internal Audit and Investigations Department (IAID), had her permit to sit on the board of the private investment firm revoked by the head of the civil service, at the start of the NAO inquiry in November 2012.

But Schembri is still listed as a non-executive director at Brait, as confirmed by the firm's head of investor relations Mark Parsons when contacted on the phone by MaltaToday.

In an official comment, Brait company secretary Bryan Moyer said Schembri remains a director of Brait, but added that she had been given leave of absence from the board and its activities, pending the conclusion of the NAO investigation.

Moyer said this was "the same position" adopted by the civil service, since Schembri has retained her position of IAID head pending her leave of absence.

"We are aware that Rita Schembri is being investigated by the Auditor General into her alleged breach of the Estacode's code of ethics whilst she was serving as permanent secretary and director-general of the Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate... she remains a director of Brait but she has been given leave of absence from the board and its activities pending the conclusion of the investigation.  Brait has also communicated with the Maltese Authorities in this regard."

The news suggests that despite principal permanent secretary Godwin Grima's revocation of the permit he gave Schembri in March 2012 to sit on the board of the South African investment firm, the IAID head has not yet vacated her directorship.

Brait also has a Maltese presence - according to its website the firm is headquartered at the offices of company Avantech, apart from its Mauritius and Johannesburg offices.

The NAO inquiry into Schembri's alleged breach of the public service's code of ethics is also still ongoing, 11 weeks since the investigation was launched.

Schembri temporarily stepped down from her position as head of the IAID on 23 December 2012, pending an inquiry by the Auditor General into the allegations.

In comments to MaltaToday, a spokesperson for the Auditor General said that a couple of interviews are outstanding before the NAO proceeds with the drafting of the report into the "behaviour and actions" of Schembri.

Among those interviewed by Auditor General Anthony Mifsud was whistleblower Philip Rizzo, an independent auditor and disability rights campaigner who revealed that Schembri was conducting private business from her government offices.

Rizzo, who described himself as a "witness to Schembri's lack of professional ethics in the public sphere", produced email correspondence showing that Schembri carried out business on behalf of gaming firm Far East Entertainment plc, to purchase a 60% stake in the Casinò di Venezia, of Birgu.

Rizzo himself had been engaged by FEE to meet Schembri at the IAID offices, wherein it turned out that the permanent secretary was conducting private business for FEE in the government office, in breach of the public service management code of ethics: using official IAID facilities for private purposes; and failing to declare a possible financial or other interest in FEE's casino bid.

Schembri has a non-executive directorship with the South African private investment holding company Brait SE, which is based in Luxembourg, for which she was given official approval by Grima on 14 April, 2012. It is understood that Schembri's role in FEE's bid for the Casinò di Venezia is not part of her directorship in Brait SE.

Since the ethics breach was referred to the Auditor General for investigation, Grima had revoked the permit for Schembri's directorship.

The detailed trail of email correspondence handed to this newspaper by Rizzo confirmed that Schembri's relations with the FEE Group and their interest in the Birgu casino did not have the official approval of Godwin Grima.

Schembri, a member of the supervisory committee of OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud office, has denied having carried out any business advisory services to private firms.