Siġġiewi mayor 'surprised and hurt' over Francine Farrugia fraud charges

Updated 7.22pm

The mayor of Siġġiewi said he was “surprised” and "hurt" to hear that a councillor from his town, and the same party, had been charged with fraud while a Nationalist MP said he felt "angry" and "betrayed" by the news.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Julian Borg said he had come to know Francine Farrugia through their work together on the council.

“I cannot say that I ever saw any signs of wrongdoing on her part,” Borg said.

Farrugia, who until this week served as a PN councillor, was accused of embezzling €2.3 million from MCAST on Thursday morning.

She has since resigned from the Nationalist Party and the council, and has been suspended from her job as a finance manager at the government higher education institution.

Farrugia was responsible for the education portfolio within the Siġġiewi council.

“She always completed her tasks for the council, and I could never say she failed to complete any work,” Borg said.

Still, with allegations like those she is facing, Borg said Farrugia could not be trusted by those who elected her.

“That’s why she made the right decision by resigning,” the mayor said. 

Borg pointed out that Farrugia never had access to the council’s finances, not for any particular reason, but because in local councils it is the mayor and the executive secretary who have access.

Borg said he was "hurt" to see the Siġġiewi local council brought into disrepute over the case, “especially when the council or the council’s work has nothing to do with all of this.”

He said that like him, the residents who spoke to him were “surprised more than anything” when they heard the news.

“In a few days, when the news sinks in, residents might have different emotions,” he said.

During the local council elections last year, Siġġiewi was among the towns informally dubbed as “swing states”.

Previously held by Labour, the Nationalist Party managed to win the majority of the council’s seven seats.

One PN official said Labour is doing its best to build a narrative that the scandal was the council’s.

“Even though the local council has nothing to do with what allegedly took place, they are trying to inflate the matter as much as possible,” the official said.

“While the case puts the council in a bad light temporarily, residents see that the PN is doing a more effective job in Siġġiewi,” they said.

PN MP Darren Carabott, however, said the whole matter showed that the Nationalist Party held its representatives to higher standards.

“Ask yourself: when similar accusations were made about someone else a few years ago – did you see anyone condemn them or distance themselves? This is the difference in standards between us,” he said.

Carabott said he felt “angry” and “betrayed” by Farrugia's alleged actions.

“These are the two words that sum up the emotions 24 hours after the news broke,” he said.

“Can you imagine how you would feel if you were elected to parliament for the first time – and after three years of work, presenting laws against the abuse of public funds – you read news like that?” he said.

The PN MP, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, added that Farrugia was right to resign even before the court delivered a sentence on the charges she faces.

“The bar in politics should be higher than the threshold for criminal guilt. We should not accept or stay silent when there is a court allegation tarnishing our politics.”

He said that if what is alleged is true, “Francine Farrugia should not only have resigned as she did – but she should pay for the abuse that was committed.”

PN Leadership candidate Adrian Delia said the fraud was "deplorable" and "whoever allegedly committed this abuse must answer for their actions". 

In a Facebook post on Friday, Delia pointed at "serious questions on the oversight, scrutiny and governance of our institutions". 

The other contender for the PN leadership post, Alex Borg, said abuse from a public official is a "slap in the face". 

In a Facebook post, Borg insisted "anyone in public office to enrich themselves has no place in politics or in the role they hold."