Updated Tuesday 12.45pm with Tortell's comments

The chairperson of the board of San Andrea School has "stepped aside" for the duration of an internal inquiry probing claims of financial mismanagement that pre-date his term in office.

“I want to clear my name because I have been unfairly hit in the media,” Alexander Tortell told a tense hall of around 700 parents, trustees, guardians and school staff in a meeting on Monday evening.

“I have worked hard like all of you to have a reputation, integrity and dignity and I won't let anyone take that away from me. I will even take legal action to clear my name," said Tortell, who was appointed chairman in September 2021.

Jeanette Borg Calleja will be the interim chair.

Speaking to Times of Malta on Tuesday, Tortell said he stepped aside for the duration of the inquiry as a measure of good governance to be completely distant from the proceedings.

"I did this although over the past weeks I asked for and obtained unanimous votes of confidence both from the trustees (who appoint the board) and from the school board," he said, pointing out he has not resigned.

"It is also important to make clear that all decisions taken during my term as chairman were taken with total transparency - the board was always involved and apprised and there are documents and minutes that attest to this." 

The steps to set up the inquiry started the day after the allegations were made and before a former assistant head went public with the information.

"The advice we had been given by leading professionals was to keep the inquiry secret so as to ensure total control on information by those carrying out the inquiry. Unfortunately, clearly, this is now a moot point."

Tortell said the role of chairman was entirely voluntary and unpaid and has never claimed back a single cent from the school for the many expenses he incurred in relation to his duties. 

"It needs to be stated unequivocally that the allegations of financial mismanagement date back to the previous board. There are zero allegations against me and the current board."

The board's mandate from the trustees was to introduce more good governance structures and procedures, starting from the complete overhaul of the obsolete statute.

"We introduced new financial processes and safeguards, and likewise for procurement."

Emotional, long meeting

Monday's long meeting turned emotional and loud at times, with parents and staff members shouting, “shame on you!” and “why didn’t you go to the police?”

The board explained that legal consultants advised them against going to the police because it was futile reporting the case without hard evidence.

That is why they opted for an internal inquiry, the results of which would be handed to the police if it transpires that there was criminal activity.

The board said it was not yet in a position to disclose which of the Big Four accountancy firms is involved in the inquiry.

The board assured staff that the allegations will in no way impact their salaries.

Earlier, school principal Stefania Bartolo suspended herself and a former member of the school board, David Wain, published a copy of his resignation letter dated June 2021.

Wain said he resigned after finding out that selected board members at the time had been carrying out “paid work” for the school without his knowledge.

Bartolo informed staff members of her decision in the morning pending the outcome of an internal inquiry, Times of Malta is informed. 

In a letter to parents, she said that she had taken the “very difficult” decision “with great sadness”.

“I feel I need to step aside in order to set a good example in corporate good governance and in order to take legal action to defend my name and reputation, which I have worked extremely hard to build over the years,” she said.

On Friday, the school confirmed it had launched an independent inquiry into a series of claims by former assistant head Trevor Templeman relating to financial irregularities.

Templeman went public with the allegations after claiming he had been “sidelined and intimidated” by the school’s management team when he flagged financial issues that had been highlighted to him by Bartolo.

He is alleging that the school’s principal told him and one of the school’s assistant heads, Ruth Azzopardi, that former chairperson Kevin Spiteri had defrauded the school of some €200,000 through “miscellaneous” transactions. 

He also claimed that he was told Spiteri benefited from projects totalling some €4 million.

Azzopardi said she confirmed being called in for a meeting along with Templeman and that both were told about the financial irregularities by Bartolo.

The principal, Templeman claims, also told the pair about another staff member being paid €25,000 to keep quiet.

Bartolo did not respond to any of the specific claims in her letter to parents and staff but thanked the school’s trustees and the board for their support.

“I am not worried – sad yes, worried no,” she wrote. 

“With the right strategy in place this too shall pass.”

Times of Malta contacted Spiteri but he would not comment and asked for questions to be sent to his lawyer, Ian Vella Galea.

In a statement in the afternoon, the board said that Templeman had presented his allegations to it on September 20 and it had “strongly agreed that such allegations should be investigated”.

“The board acted on this instantly and, following advice from three different legal professionals, agreed the best course of action would be to set up an independent inquiry and then act on the findings of the said inquiry,” it said.

Its only interest, it added, was to safeguard the interests of the school and its children.

Meanwhile, Wain, said the board should have launched an independent inquiry in June 2021 and not now.

“All this publicity is not good for the school but I have kept this information to myself since last year and it’s too much,” he said yesterday.

In his letter, Wain described feeling “shock and dismay” when he first found out that selected board members were carrying out paid work for the school. 

He said that he faced strong pressure to resign from the board, then chaired by Spiteri, as well as from senior management staff.

“When this was unsuccessful, a personal campaign against a family member who is employed at the school was carried out (in the guise of restructuring) whilst this important issue was swept under the carpet,” he said. 

Wain said he requested all board members to provide a declaration stating that they have never taken paid work from the school and, if they had, to declare it.

He said board members are not entitled to receive remuneration, should avoid conflicts of interest and not receive undisclosed or unauthorised profit, among other things. 

Again asked for a comment, Spiteri’s lawyer said his client was awaiting the outcome of the inquiry to dispel claims being put forward.