Francine Farrugia: the alleged fraudster who decried corruption

A former Nationalist Party councillor, who repeatedly spoke out against corruption, is now facing charges of embezzling €2.3 million from the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), where she served as finance manager.

Francine Farrugia, 31, made headlines on Thursday after being charged with a raft of fraud and accountancy offences. Police told the court they discovered such a large amount of luxury clothing and jewellery at her home that “we would fill up the court”.

In a resurfaced clip that has been shared, Farrugia is seen speaking at a campaign event for Nationalist MEP David Casa, where she links the apathy of young people to the country’s corruption.

“They are frustrated not because they don’t like their country but because they don’t like local corruption,” she says in the video.

This is not the first time Farrugia has publicly criticised corruption.

In 2019, she appeared in a Nationalist Party video which she also posted to her own social media, with the caption: “We want a society that cares, where no one is left behind and the wealth that is created reaches everyone. We care about having a Malta that is free from corruption, with a strong reputation.”

Farrugia resigned from "all" roles within the Nationalist Party including that of local councillor in Siġġiewi on Thursday afternoon, hours after appearing in court to plead not guilty to fraud charges.

She had contested the 2022 general election for the Nationalist Party and previously served in local politics from the age of 16, when she joined the Youth Local Council and served as Youth Mayor.

In an interview with Times of Malta in 2022, Farrugia spoke about her professional doctoral research on work-life balance, saying, “People should be able to have a decent lifestyle and not depend on government for benefits, rather they should rely on themselves to upgrade their lifestyle.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Farrugia holds an MBA from Anglia Ruskin University and an ACCA Diploma in Accounting and Finance.

She is listed as having joined MCAST in 2019 as financial manager, as well as also lecturing in Entrepreneurship, Introduction to Business Management, Project Management, and I-Belong Culture for the last four years.

During Thursday's hearing, it was reported that through her work as a manager in the accounting section of MCAST, she had access to salaries and "did double salaries" between September 2023 and May 2025, he said. She issued either double salaries for herself, or issued one for the employees and one for herself. 

Her bank accounts were analysed and showed that she had transferred €422,420 there and €1.9 million into her Revolut account.

The police contacted MCAST in July to inform them of the investigation and prevented a €122,000 transfer to Farrugia's account.

Police found that Farrugia had bought a property in Malta and entered into several promise-of-sale agreements on other properties. She also bought vehicles and luxury clothes during the two-year period.

She spent €113,000 at Harrods in London on clothes and jewellery, the court was told. 

Announcing her resignation, the PN said the party "demands the highest standards from its representatives."

Education Minister Clifton Grima also reacted to the case, saying he felt “anger” and “disappointment” at the allegations, and pledged that MCAST would “continue to safeguard the principles of good governance, accountability, and transparency”.