Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi will be stepping down as Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta and taking on the top post at the Transport Authority, Times of Malta has learnt.
Curmi is expected to be appointed chief executive officer at Transport Malta in the coming days. Sources said Joe Bugeja, who currently runs TM, has agreed to step down.
Curmi had been controversially catapulted to the helm of the AFM in 2013 shortly after Labour was returned to power.
He has served for 25 years and is now entitled to a full AFM pension. He is expected to be replaced by his current deputy Clinton O’Neill.
It is understood the decision to shift Curmi was taken directly by Prime Minister Robert Abela who has tasked him with a clean-up of the regulator, which has been bogged down with a series of corruption, abuse and mismanagement claims in recent months.
Last year, Times of Malta reported that a senior TM official was being investigated for suspected fraud and misappropriation. That case revolves around a complaint that a top official pocketed money from applicants about to sit for a test to obtain their driver’s licence.
Times of Malta later published an audio recording of a driving examiner soliciting a bribe from an applicant while they were driving through their practical test.
Last February, TM’s head of enforcement, Clint Axisa, was charged under arrest with sexually harassing employees.
Just last month, the regulator was again in the headlines after it entered into a contract to lease 41 cars from an alleged kidnapper and suspected money launderer Christian Borg.
Government sources said Curmi had been given a mandate to “introduce discipline and order” at the regulator.
Aside from leading the army, Curmi is also an expert in explosives and diving incidents, having even served as a court expert during past inquiries.
Latest in a string of new faces to be installed by Abela's new administration
His appointment is the latest in a string of new faces to be installed by Abela’s new administration. They include State IT agency chief Tony Sultana, who was appointed head of the civil service, Trustin Farrugia Cann who was installed as Infrastructure Malta head, and Carlo Micallef who was appointed Malta Tourism Authority chief executive.