A former Transport Malta official whose information led to arrests linked to a driving licence racket had warned top politicians and their aides about the corruption, Arnold Cassola alleged on Saturday.

The whistleblower has yet to give evidence in the ongoing court case but is willing to do so, Cassola, who will contest next year’s MEP elections as an independent candidate, said.

“This person is ready to testify in front of the Magistrate who is handling the case. If the said magistrate deems it useful, I can provide her with the contacts of this potential witness,” Cassola said.

The whistleblower, who no longer lives in Malta, had emailed the police in 2020 with information about the racket. His email led to police arresting and charging a director at the transport agency and two of his underlings with corruption.

Clint Mansueto, Raul Antonio Pace and Philip Endrick Zammit are all pleading not guilty to criminal charges.

The whistleblower claims that he had spoken to various government representatives about the Transport Malta racket, but nothing was done.

He claims to have spoken to Carmelo Abela (at the time a minister), Alex Muscat (at the time a junior minister), former Rabat mayor and OPM official Sandro Craus and Jesmond Zammit, from Ian Borg’s secretariat, about the allegations.

“He also tried to fix an appointment with Minister Ian Borg, but the latter always referred him to subordinates,” Cassola said in a statement.

A court has heard how Mansueto would pressure driving test examiners to pass specific candidates that were reportedly flagged by ministries. Multiple examiners have testified about the pressure they faced.

Mansueto told police interrogators that he felt pressured to favour certain candidates because they enjoyed the favour of a particular, as-yet unnamed minister. 

Ministers have all denied any knowledge of the racket.

Cassola has repeatedly spoken out about irregularities within Transport Malta and had, in February 2022, hand-delivered a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister making various allegations about the agency, including claims that an agency official was sexually harassing employees. 

Days later, a Transport Malta official was charged with sexual harassment.