Jimmy Magro, a former secretary general of the Labour Party, has been refunded €9,000 in deducted salaries by Malta Enterprise, after being allowed to “retire” prior to the conclusion of a police probe into claims that he requested €25,000 in kickbacks.

His exit from the state’s investment arm is also questionable because this happened in June last year, when he still had one more year left to run on his employment contract.

Mr Magro has been the subject of a criminal investigation for a year.  The probe was triggered by the Permanent Commission Against Corruption which said that it was “morally convinced” that Mr Magro was guilty of attempted bribery.

The case was in connection with a government tender issued by the Local Councils Association where Mr Magro worked as executive secretary between 2007 and 2013.

Consequently, Mr Magro, whose basic annual salary at Malta Enterprise was €50,000, was suspended and put on half pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Yet, 12 months down the line no charges have yet been pressed amid criticism that the police were having cold feet about taking action against Mr Magro, who was Labour’s general secretary between 1991 and 2003.

Last month the police said the evidence given to them by the commission was not deemed to be strong enough.  While describing the state of the probe as being “very active” the police said they were waiting for replies from foreign jurisdictions before proceeding to interrogate the main subjects in the case.

However, it now appears that the slow pace of the investigation gave Mr Magro the perfect opportunity to bow out without incurring any penalties, thanks to a particular clause in his employment contract.

Mr Magro was duly refunded the salary which had been withheld during his suspension

His exit from the State entity, where he had been appointed on a position-of-trust basis in June 2013, only came to light following enquiries made by The Sunday Times of Malta.

Asked if Mr Magro was still suspended, a Malta Enterprise spokeswoman said that he was no longer on their books as he had reached pensionable age.

While confirming that he had been suspended on February 2 of last year, she noted that his last day of employment was on Friday June 12, 2017. Mr Magro turned 62 the following day.

However, Mr Magro’s employment contract, a copy of which was obtained through a freedom of information request, had no ‘retirement’ clause. This means his five-year engagement as executive chairman of the Major Projects Co-Ordination Agency at Malta Enterprise should have ended in June 2018.

Furthermore, it laid down that if the employee wants to resign he must give a six-month notice. In this case Mr Magro’s retirement happened five months after he was suspended.

The contract also stipulated that Mr Magro would be eligible for a €50,000 loyalty bonus should he complete his term of employment.

As for disciplinary matters, the contract says that if Mr Magro were ever “under investigation by the police or charged pending trial for any offence directly or indirectly connected with his duties, the employer may at its sole discretion suspend the employee on half pay pending the definite outcome of the investigations or charge or institute internal disciplinary proceedings”.

However, the contract also states that “in the event that the employee is not found guilty or if the investigations do not result in a charge, the employee will be refunded the full unpaid amount of his total remuneration during the period of suspension”. 

While the suspension clause was adhered to, his accelerated exit meant that he became eligible for a refund.

Asked for further clarification on the matter, the spokeswoman declined to give any details while confirming Mr Magro had been “duly refunded” the salary which had been withheld during his suspension.

This was in view of the fact that no criminal charges had been issued by the time of his retirement, she said. 

It is not known whether Mr Magro was given the loyalty bonus or part of it.

However in a statement on Sunday, after the above story was published in The Sunday Times of Malta, the Ministry for the Economy said that Mr Magro’s employment with Malta Enterprise Corporation was regulated by the Public Administration Act and all procedures in this regard were directed by the Public Service Commission.