Sacked FIAU official Jonathan Ferris has asked the courts to declare that his firing was politically motivated and a result of discriminatory treatment. 

Mr Ferris, a former police inspector who subsequently moved to the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit as a manager, was given the boot by the FIAU in June while still under probation. The FIAU's head of compliance, Charles Cronin, was also sacked at the same time. 

In an interview with the Times of Malta, Mr Ferris had alleged that his superiors wanted to "silence" him and that he was sidelined after allegations linking the Prime Minister's wife to Panama company Egrant emerged. 

INTERVIEW: 'They wanted to silence me'

The FIAU has denied the claim and said its officials carried out their work freely independently.

Mr Ferris was sacked shortly after Finance Minister Edward Scicluna had asked whether FIAU reports concerning the Prime Minister's chief of Staff Keith Schembri and minister Konrad Mizzi were "written to be leaked". 

Prof. Scicluna had said, in a video interview with Times of Malta: "I want to know whether they [report authors] were really apolitical." 

In his case alleging unlawful dismissal filed today, Mr Ferris made direct reference to Prof. Scicluna's comments, arguing that they "indicate without the slightest doubt" the partisan motives underpinning his sacking. 

The case notes that Mr Ferris had investigated several politically exposed persons and that his sacking sought to intimidate him and hinder investigations, which had reached a "highly advanced stage."  

It asks the courts to declare that he was sacked discriminatorily and to assign compensation to Mr Ferris accordingly. 

 

The case was signed by lawyers Roselyn Borg, Jason Azzopardi and Andrew Borg Cardona.