A team of investigators from the European Union’s anti-fraud agency, OLAF, arrived last week to investigate allegations of fraud, nepotism and mishandling of harassment claims at a Malta-based EU asylum agency.
The investigators are probing claims by anonymous current and former employees of the European Union Agency for Asylum who called for a probe into its top management.
Sources said the three-person investigative team, led by investigator Mariya Kirilova, was interviewing staff members at the agency’s office in Marsa.
They are focusing on HR management and recruitment, particularly the appointment of two senior management members, and are speaking to witnesses and individuals who could have enabled the potentially fraudulent appointments.
The probe began last year when a group of anonymous employees wrote to the OLAF and the European Commission making a series of allegations.
The claims were levelled at European asylum support office executive director Nina Gregori. She is facing accusations of misconduct.
Gregori took charge in 2019 after the departure of José Carreira, who had faced accusations of harassment.
The unnamed whistleblowers alleged that Gregori had set up a complex system of legal structures and controls that give an appearance of compliance and regularity but that, in reality, hide and cover all the agency’s irregularities.
Gregori has ensured it is impossible to alert “the management board, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the public”, they claimed.
Allegations against Gregori include appointments that contravened human resources rules.
She and her senior managers have rejected the allegations.
The complaint also targets a certain Mark Camilleri, who was allegedly the subject of harassment complaints by five staff members in the past three years.
He was “supported” by Gregori “in all cases”, the employees alleged.
Gerardo Knouse Ramirez, the head of the agency’s internal controls, is also accused by the complainants of covering up mismanagement.
Camilleri and Knouse Ramirez both denied all the accusations included in the complaint, the EUAA had said when the claims were first made.
The EU’s asylum agency, which employs about 2,000 staff, offers member states legal, technical and operational assistance. The agency, which was previously the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), was given a new name at the beginning of last year and a reinforced mandate to help unify the way member states handle asylum claims.
It provides support to member states facing particular pressure due to the migration crisis, offering monitoring and training relating to the implementation of the Common European Asylum System.
OLAF refused to comment when contacted by Times of Malta, saying it was not in a position to provide comments on the Malta operation.
“OLAF does not issue comments on cases it may or may not be treating. This is in order to protect the confidentiality of any possible investigations and of possible ensuing judicial proceedings as well as to ensure respect for personal data and procedural rights,” a spokesperson said in reply to questions.
Fact-finding mission by MEPs from civil liberties committee
The investigators were here at the same time that a delegation from the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee was conducting a fact-finding mission at the EU asylum agency, also meeting the Armed Forces of Malta, Malta’s International Protection Agency and UNHCR representatives.
The delegation met with Gregori and other senior officials for an exchange on a range of issues, including the operational support to member states and the monitoring mechanisms.
The agency is not new to controversy.
In 2018, the European anti-fraud agency found “irregularities” at the Malta-based office, recommending that the management board should take disciplinary action against the former executive director,
Carreira, and several other staff members. Carreira, who denied the allegations, resigned from the agency before the investigation was concluded. He was facing accusations of bullying and “psychological violence”, apart from being investigated by OLAF. Staff at the agency have long complained about their working conditions under Carreira.
Times of Malta has reported that agency staff members complained in internal e-mails about the “culture of irresponsibility” and “psychological violence” they were subjected to.