Lino Farrugia Sacco set to head Lands Authority

Retired judge Lino Farrugia Sacco is set to be appointed at the helm of the Lands Authority, which came into being following a damning NAO inquiry into the expropriation of half a property in Valletta, from property entrepreneur Marco Gaffarena.

Contacted by MaltaToday, the former Malta Olympics Committee president didn’t confirm or deny appointment, explaining that he didn’t feel he should be the one to comment.

The parliamentary secretariat for lands is expected to announce the structure of the Lands Authority – upgraded from ‘a department’ – in the coming days.

Asked to confirm Farrugia Sacco’s appointment, a spokesperson for the parliamentary secretariat said that a press briefing is going to be held on Tuesday “and all board members will be announced”.

Farrugia Sacco was thrust in the media spotlight in December 2012, when then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi presented an impeachment motion. It followed an inquiry by the Commission for the Administration Justice which found Farrugia Sacco prima facie guilty of misbehaviour. Farrugia Sacco retired before parliament could move to impeach him.

The CAJ had investigated Farrugia Sacco after two undercover reporters for The Sunday Times of London offered €60,000 for rights to sell the Malta Olympic Committee's tickets for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics games.

Farrugia Sacco and then MOC general secretary Joe Cassar were covertly recorded by the reporters - who were posing as envoys of a Middle Eastern ticket tout - explaining how high-mark ups could be "camouflaged" through "subtle" marketing techniques.

Asked whether the case could cast doubts over his new role, Farrugia Sacco insisted that the CAJ had found nothing in connection with the Olympic tickets allegations.

“The commission found no wrongdoing on the allegations… they instead went round the issue and said that I shouldn’t have been involved in sports,” he said.

The CAJ had found Farrugia Sacco guilty of misbehaviour: as a sitting judge, the MOC had told Farrugia Sacco to resign from the MOC post.

In a reaction, PN MPs Ryan Callus and Jason Azzopardi insisted that the Lands Authority should not remain an "extension of the Prime Minister's Office".

"The government had said that the idea behind replacing the Lands Department with a Lands Authority was to give it the necessary tools to avoid scandals from repeating themselves," Callus told reporters during a press conference on a separate issue.

"However, that was clearly excuse as never since Malta's independence has the Lands department been riddled with scandals of the nature of Cafe Premier and Strada Zekka that occurred under this Labour government."

Callus reminded that Farrugia Sacco had faced two impeachment motions from two different Prime Ministers, “so there was definitely something wrong with him.”

"However, the Labour government chose not to proceed with its impeachment motion to allow Farrugia Sacco reach retirement age. It’s now clear that the government had a plan in store for this man, and his appointment already sends a wrong message on the ethical conduct of the Lands Authority's board of governors.”