Estate management head expected to resign, Falzon’s staff could be retained

The director of estate management within the Government Property Division will tender his resignation, MaltaToday has learnt, after a damning NAO report declared he had not safeguarded government interest by expropriating a 50% share belonging to property developer Mark Gaffarena.

Carmel Camilleri was said to be out on leave pending a resignation, making him the second civil servant to leave the GPD after Raymond Camilleri resigned from his post as director-general, when an investigation by the Internal Audit and Investigations Department into the expropriation of half a Valletta property was underway.

In its investigation, the NAO declared that the elusiveness of public purpose in expropriating the Old Mint Street palazzo in Valletta, was not attributable to “inadequate documentation” because Falzon, and the GPD’s two directors confirmed that they had not discussed the public purpose served through these expropriations. “In these circumstances, the NAO concluded that these officials failed to safeguard government’s interest by expropriating property that, although useful, served no identified public purpose.”

Raymond Camilleri had submitted his resignation to principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar in August 2015. He was appointed director-general of the GPD in 2013, after having previously spent two years as director of the GPD’s estate management directorate.

The Office of the Prime Minister has also confirmed that the engagement of Michael Falzon’s private secretariat has come to an end now that the former junior minister has tendered his resignation.

But a spokesperson did not rule out that other Cabinet members would take on the services of Falzon’s staff.

According to the report by the OPM’s internal audit and investigations department (IAID), no proper audit trail was found of the negotiations tat took place between the GPD, through the director of estate management (DEM), and Mark Gaffarena.

The DEM, when questioned by the IAID, reiterated that “Mr Gaffarena accompanied by Mr Clint Scerri, the liaison officer between [Falzon] and GPD, held a meeting with me regarding Mr Gaffarena’s proposal.”

Scerri was found to have never signed on the GPD’s visitors’ log book, however the IAID said that there is no evidence that Scerri influenced the architect’s valuations on properties chosen by Gaffarena.