Updated 8.05am

Prime Minister Robert Abela has defended his ministers from scrutiny concerning an alleged corruption racket at the transport authority. 

Abela said that there were “no investigations, criminal charges or legal proceedings concerning any ministers in this regard”. 

He was taking questions after an unnamed minister was implicated in wrongdoing when three Transport Malta officials were on Monday charged with helping learner drivers cheat in their exam. 

Clint Mansueto, 40, a director at Transport Malta, and officials Raul Antonio Pace, 35, and Philip Edrick Zammit, 23, denied corruption charges when they appeared in court. 

Mansueto told the police under questioning he felt “pressured” to help certain people pass the test “because they were working at a villa belonging to a government minister”.

A police search of his phone also revealed chats with people linked to a “political party” supplying information about candidates who were to pass their driving test. 

'Nothing to look into'

Asked whether he had spoken to his ministers about the claims in court earlier this week, Abela did not say and instead stuck to the line that he was not informed of any investigation into any minister. 

"No minister has been criminally charged or accused of wrongdoing. Nor am I am informed of any investigations concerning any minister," he said, adding later that there are "no investigations, accusations or legal proceedings against any minister."

He did not say how he was aware of that. 

Abela also completely denied that the Labour Party was involved in this.

He said: “There is no organised system by the Labour Party in the way you are describing. It is denied categorically.”

He added that, since it had been denied already, there was nothing to look into.

There is no organised system by the Labour Party in the way you are describing. It is denied categorically.- Prime Minister Robert Abela

Asked if he had personally ever spoken to any of the officials charged in court or if he himself featured in the police investigation, Abela said he had never spoken to Mansueto. He did not say whether he had spoken to either of Mansueto’s co-accused. 

Police looking through diaries

Meanwhile, the police are combing through more than 200 names contained in two diaries they believe served as ledgers for suspected corruption in the driving test bribery scandal. 

The two diaries that are being analysed are for 2020 and 2021 and contain the names of people who are suspected of having received favourable treatment.

The diaries were lifted during a search of Mansueto’s Transport Malta office.

Sources said it is unclear if all the names are of those who were given preferential treatment, as many were noted down as “appointments”.  

In some cases, however, sources said that the names, ID cards and dates of the pages within the diary listings corresponded precisely with the date those same people successfully sat for a licensing exam.  

These names will now have to be thoroughly cross-checked against the text messages received by Mansueto, the sources said.