Former housing ministry worker guilty of bribery, given suspended sentence
Case brought to the attention of police by former health minister Chris Fearne
A 73-year-old former housing ministry worker has been handed a two-year prison term suspended for four years after he was found guilty of bribery in April.
Carmelo Spiteri from Vittoriosa was accused of taking a €500 bribe from Stanislaus Caruana when he was employed as a person of trust at the ministry.
The case was brought to the attention of the police by then Health Minister Chris Fearne, when it was alleged that Caruana had given €500 to a social solidarity ministry official so that the latter “could take care of his housing application”.
A health centre customer care official had informed Fearne about the case after Caruana told her that he had been asked for €500 for him to get social housing.
Fearne had met Caruana and the customer care official, and during that meeting it emerged that the accused had given €500 to “Charlie” Spiteri, however, he was not given social housing. During the meeting, it also emerged that Caruana had recorded the conversations with Spiteri.
The customer care official knew Caruana because they both grew up in the same locality. The woman testified that the man informed her about a problem he had with the Housing Authority and asked her to accompany him to a meeting with Spiteri.
When they went to the ministry, they discovered that his file had been lost. Spiteri was to help Caruana. In January, Caruana told the woman that Spiteri asked for €500 which he paid up. The woman told him that she had no other way but to inform her superior, Fearne, since he was going to land her in trouble.
Caruana and the health centre customer care official met with Fearne, who then filed a report.
A representative of the family and social solidarity ministry testified in the proceedings and explained that Spiteri was engaged on June 3, 2017. In January 2018, the police informed the ministry about his misconduct. He was suspended on half-pay and when his one-year contract was up, it was not renewed.
Caruana was criminally prosecuted separately and acquitted by a court in October 2023 after the prosecution did not bring forward sufficient evidence that he had bribed Spiteri.
The court found Spiteri guilty of bribery and unlawful exaction and jailed him for two years suspended for four. The man was perpetually interdicted.
Magistrate Simone Grech presided over the court.
Inspector Doriette Cuschieri prosecuted.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri assisted the accused.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Carmelo Spiteri was a Housing Authority official. He was, in fact, employed as a person of trust within the housing ministry.