Government, PN reported Dimech to police over claim he asked for commission on €1,200 salary

MaltaToday is reliably informed that Castille and Tal-Pieta’ had received information alleging that Nikki Dimech had asked for a 5%-10% commission over a €1,200 monthly salary from Stephen Buhagiar, who was employed as the Sliema council’s contracts manager. The case goes back to September 2009.

Buhagiar -  a father of four - refused to pay the commission and claims to have been sacked by Dimech last March.

The allegation was categorically denied by Nikki Dimech when he was confronted about it by PN secretary general Paul Borg Olivier three months ago, however he reportedly admitted the claim when interrogated by investigators at the Economic Crimes Unit.

Senior PN sources have confirmed with MaltaToday, that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi who is currently on holiday abroad has been informed of the latest developments concerning the beleaguered Sliema Mayor, while the party secretary general Paul Borg Olivier has conveyed the message to Dimech that his position was now “untenable.”

MaltaToday is reliably informed that Nikki Dimech phoned Borg Olivier soon after he left the Police HQ in Floriana and informed him that he was interrogated.

Borg Olivier reportedly insisted with Dimech that he had ‘no choice’ but to immediately resign from the party, and invited him also to resign as mayor, since the party cannot interfere in official council business, given that Dimech was voted into the council by popular mandate.

But while Dimech promised Borg Olivier over the phone on Wednesday night that he will resign his post as Sliema Mayor and  from the PN, he has since not been forthcoming, leaving the PN no alternative but to formally announce his dismissal.

In a statement, the PN said that it was also expecting his resignation as Mayor of the PN stronghold, adding that it expected “high ethical standards from councilors elected in its name.”

Meanwhile, MaltaToday is informed that other contractors have also come forward alleging they were asked to pay commissions over contracts that were to be awarded by the Sliema Council.

Fellow PN councilors had raised a series of issues with the party against the beleaguered Sliema Mayor, and stressed that work at the council could no longer proceed given that it reached a stalemate over the approval of the minutes, that spoke about approving payments.

The PN councilors had stressed that the payments, some of which running into thousands of euro could never be approved since they were given under direct order, which breached financial regulations.

An investigation into these alleged irregularities have been forwarded to the Internal Audit Investigations Department within the Prime Minister’s Office.

Nikki Dimech was expected to appear before an inquiring board and could not attend on Wednesday since he was under interrogation at the police headquarters, but was expected to reply to the department’s questions yesterday. 

This however, is a separate investigation, which outcome still remains unknown.