New ambassador gave direct order to company part-owned by partner

Updated on April 28 with comment from Handson Systems

Newly appointed ambassador Roseanne Camilleri declared no conflict of interest when signing off on a €43,000 direct order to a company documented as being part-owned by her partner Anthony De Bono, e-mails and corporate records show.

Camilleri, who at the time was CEO of Primary HealthCare, said in official documents that the direct order for 170 panic buttons from software and technology company Handson Systems Ltd was urgently needed to meet health and safety requirements at government healthcare clinics under her control. 

In correspondence with the Finance Ministry dated March 2023, Camilleri officially declared she had no conflict of interest in requesting the “urgent” direct order be given to Handson Systems.

Direct orders over €10,000 that bypass normal procurement rules need to be cleared by the ministry. 

At the time of the direct order, according to business registry documents, her partner was a shareholder, director and chairman of Handson System’s parent company, Pearl Ventures.

De Bono resigned as director and chairman with an “effective date of change” in May 2025, and relinquished his shareholding that same month, business filings show.

Camilleri disputed the timeline of her partner’s resignation when contacted by Times of Malta.

“May I point out that, to the best of my knowledge, my partner, Mr Anthony De Bono, had resigned from any position he held within Handson Systems in 2022.

“I was not privy to the fact that his resignation was not yet registered with the authorities due to circumstances beyond his and certainly my control. This can also be confirmed by the CEO of Handson Systems,” Camilleri said.

Questions sent to Handson Systems were not answered by the time of publication. 

Following publication, Handson Systems director Geoffrey Farrugia told Times of Malta that Debono resigned and sold his shares in the company to him in 2022. 

Farrugia said the change in shareholding was only reflected in the business registry due to the "excessively bureaucratic" process to register a share transfer. 

The process involved a lengthy valuation process and a back-and-forth with the tax authorities. 

"We had to chase architects, lawyers and a host of government departments," Farrugia said, with the process taking nearly three years to finalise. 

‘Collapse of good governance’

Camilleri was temporarily suspended as Primary HealthCare CEO last year amid an investigation into mismanagement of public funds. 

Times of Malta can reveal that the probe found a “collapse of good governance principles, total disregard to basic internal controls and absolute departure from the concepts of transparency and fairness”.

The government’s Internal Audit and Investigations board recommended last year that “disciplinary action” be taken against Camilleri and another Primary HealthCare executive. 

Despite these findings, Foreign Minister Ian Borg continued with her nomination for the role of non-resident ambassador to Liechtenstein.

Matters came to a head last week when PN MP Adrian Delia received “serious threats” from De Bono after grilling Camilleri in parliament’s Public Appointments Committee about her suitability for the role, given her previous track record as Primary HealthCare CEO.

De Bono “threatened” Delia by saying he would call several people that the MP had previously crossed paths with and attempt to sour their relationships.

He also said he would speak to someone’s “team to make it easier for [Delia] to have an excuse to not contest the next election”.

Delia has called on Borg to withdraw Camilleri’s nomination as ambassador.

Despite the threats faced by the PN MP, the foreign minister said he would abide by the decision of the parliamentary committee.

De Bono “retracted” the threats on Thursday, thereby halting parliamentary proceedings against him.