Malta Financial Services Authority governor Joe Brincat on Friday met Auditor General Charles Deguara at his office.

The meeting was requested by Dr Brincat who earlier this week accused MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri of abuse of power and public funds.

On Monday, Dr Brincat also filed a judicial protest  against the CEO accusing him abusing public funds by offering a golden handshake to a senior employee to get rid of him. He called on Mr Cuschieri to desist from the offer as he had no right to use public funds in that way.

He did not name the employee but Times of Malta reported that the issue revolves around the unceremonious dismissal of Reuben Fenech, the MFSA’s chief operating officer, last week.

Dr Brincat said in a statement on Friday that during the meeting, the Auditor gave him the opportunity to elaborate on several facts which were not yet public.

The Auditor General informed Dr Brincat it was policy of the National Audit Office to tackle cases in the order they were received and once the case he submitted started to be tackled, he would send for him to give his testimony in a formal manner.

Dr Brincat said it was his right and duty to make public matters which went against the public interest, as he had done in Friday’s meeting as was recently confirmed by the European Court for Human Rights.

The Nationalist Party has asked the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the golden handshakes reports.