Updated | Cardona’s chief of staff carries the can for €318 minibar spend in Dubai

It will be the economy minister’s chief of staff, Mario Azzopardi, to refund a €318 minibar bill for drinks incurred during an official visit to Dubai where Chris Cardona gave an address in September 2015 for Malta Day celebrations.

The delegation from the economy ministry that spent three nights in Dubai was flagged by the National Audit Office for a hotel bill that included a total of €756 on alcoholic beverages – €318 of which were from the mini-bar.

“In full respect towards the NAO and the general public, the ministry discussed these expenses from the private room of the chief of staff, and has decided to have the expenses refunded. The ministry reassures the public that its officials have always carried out their duties in full respect of public finances,” the ministry said in an official statement.

According to the NAO, the alcohol spend was a purchase that was “not considered as relating to official business” but was claimed as travel expenditure.

The Nationalist Party dubbed the embarrassing audit of the economy minister’s alcohol spend during a Dubai visit during Malta day, as “an insult to workers”.

The €758 bill, from a three-day official trip, included €318 from a hotel minibar. Cardona was in Dubai with chief of staff Mario Azzopardi and personal assistant Dana Bonnici.

The ministry spokeswoman said the total amount spent on alcohol was €438, with the rest of the money charged for meals. “The bill included €438 on alcohol, which is known for being quite expensive in Dubai.”

Azzopardi’s car was destroyed by fire in a suspected arson back in June 2016.  The Mercedes was parked in Sappers Street, Valletta when it was destroyed after catching fire at around 11pm.

Azzopardi was also reported having been near the scene of the crime, in the Stables Bar on Sappers Street where he was with friends. A police source said arson was suspected because of paraphernalia found nearby which aroused suspicions of a deliberate attack.

Mario Azzopardi is the owner of clothes stores Pardi and Scruples.

Prime Minister welcomes Azzopardi's decision

Prime minister Joseph Muscat welcomed the ‘mature decision’ of the economy minister’s chief of staff to refund €318 of the €756 bill incurred.

He admitted he was not pleased at all with the purchase registered during the three-night stay but insisted he did not think the issue merited a resignation.

Muscat was addressing journalists at the end of a first round of discussions with other EU leaders during the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Other irregular expenses

The NAO also said that in a trip to the Ukraine, a receipt for the purchase of €296 in personal items, were paid out of the contingency money granted to an unnamed travelling officer.

Aditionally, the Ukraine trip of 19-24 June, 2015, saw the €1,190 accommodation expenses included under both ‘hotel bill’ and ‘other receipts’ – an error that resulted in the refund of €327 to the travelling officer, when it should have been the ministry to be reimbursed €863.

The NAO was also irked that a “politically-exposed person” – no name identified – was given advances for use during visits abroad in the form of cash, when other travelling officers received theirs by means of a credit transfer.

In nine out of 10 official and ministerial trips reviewed by the NAO for testing, the breakdown of spending failed to include the actual air fares of €29,000, and one three-day trip to Monaco in May 2015 did not include €8,000 in accommodation expenses.

When the complete invoice for the Monaco trip was requested by NAO to verify the nature of any additional charges, the ministry for the economy said that the full documentation was not available and “probably misplaced”.

And the post-travel submissions form for the Monaco trip was not even traced to file, because the ministry did not compile it before the NAO’s request.