Ministers amend declaration of assets

Manuel Mallia, Chris Cardona and Marie Louise Coleiro Preca have submitted revised declarations of assets to the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia. 

The amendments were submitted today by the head of the civil service and the secretary to the Cabinet Mario Cutajar.

Home affairs minister Manuel Mallia, by far the richest member of the Cabinet had omitted his income for 2012, claiming that he was not aware that he should have included last year's earnings.

In the changes submitted today, Mallia declared €137,325 in earnings for 2012. His net worth hovers above the €2 million mark, with over €1.2 million in investments, over €270,000 in bank deposits and €500,000 in cash.

In his corrections, Mallia also declared to have a €1,366.41 bank loan. Moreover he added the 25% shareholding of Project Consultancy and Corporate Service Limited and 57.6% shareholding of Venture Services Limited.

In his the original declarations, the Minister for the Economy Chris Cardona had only claimed to have earned €23,430 in 2012, however he has now added his Parliamentary honoraria of €14,880.

Cardona, a lawyer, had declared to have €60,000 in bank deposits. However he was granted a loan of €577,000, with his properties in Zabbar, Birkirkara and Madleina presumably acting as collateral.
Family Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who had also claimed that the omission of her earnings from her employment with the education department was an oversight, submitted the third amendment.

In her original declaration, Coleiro Preca had put her earnings at €20,129.46, however following today's amendment her gross income was increased to €26,999.  The code does not oblige ministers to reveal other assets such as cars, yachts and other personal effects of significant value, as is required in other EU and non-European countries.

Ministers' estimated value was therefore calculated based on the money deposited in banks - Minister Mallia's case, in cash - and investments, which were given a monetary value.

Apart from revealing who is, at least on paper, the richest and poorest within the Cabinet, the disclosure also showed that a number of ministers in the current Cabinet have a penchant for owning large quantities of immovable property.

The Cabinet's code of ethics does not bind ministers to declare the value of their properties and their investments, making it nigh on impossible to calculate their accurate net worth. In fact, none of them listed the value of their properties, and only a few gave a monetary value to their investments.