Updated 10am

Five European Parliament candidates have been referred to the police for failing to declare their income and spending during the June election campaign.

Conrad Borg Manche

All election candidates are legally obliged to present a sworn statement to the electoral commission giving financial details of their campaign.

PN candidate Lee Bugeja Bartolo, ex-Labour mayor Conrad Borg Manché, Imperium Europa and Asset Recovery Bureau manager Terrence Portelli, as well as independent candidates Noel Apap and Adrian Zammit all failed to submit their declarations.

Chief electoral commissioner Joseph Camilleri confirmed to Times of Malta that all five cases have been referred to the Police Commissioner as “required by law”.

A spokesperson for the Commissioner said the police investigate all allegations of a criminal nature.

Lee Bugeja Bartolo

Although defined as an “illegal practice,” the law offers candidates another chance to submit a declaration or justify their original failure to submit one, should they be charged in court.

The declarations are a standardised form that request basic details on campaign expenses and income.

Candidates contesting general elections are obliged to fill out the same form.

A 2022 report by the standards commissioner after the general election said the declarations do not necessarily give a true picture, because they tend to be understood as obliging candidates to report costs incurred during the official campaign period only.

Candidates often begin the campaign before this, the report noted.

“The declaration forms themselves are outdated and unclear,” the report continued.

Terrence Portelli

The report notes that valid prospective candidates can be dissuaded from contesting elections by the need to spend substantial amounts of money in order to have a reasonable chance of success.

The spending limit for European Parliament elections is €50,000 - even higher than the €20,000 per district for local parliament elections referenced in the standards commissioner’s report.

Spending alone, however, is not necessarily a precursor to success.

Labour candidate Steve Ellul declared spending €48,475 on his unsuccessful European Parliament campaign.

By contrast, Labour MEP Thomas Bajada’s campaign was declared to have only cost him €14,860.

'I was not contacted by the commission'

In a reaction, Borg Manche said he never received any communication from the Electoral Commission about the need to file a declaration. 

"I will be contacting the Electoral Commission to give them all that is required."

Borg Manche said he had already publicly declared spending €1,600 on his "short campaign". 

This spending was purely on boosting Facebook posts, as he did not hold any receptions or print any promotional material.

Bugeja Bartolo similarly said he had not been contacted by the commission about the matter.

"I will be giving them all the required information," he said.