The man responsible for corruption charges being brought against former Labour Party general secretary Jimmy Magro said he “protested with everybody” after his bid on a €250,000 public composting tender failed.

Victor Bonello gave a lengthy account in court of the 2014 events that had prompted him to go to the authorities over Magro’s alleged wrongdoing.

At the time, the accused was special consultant to the Local Councils Association.

In 2014, Bonello had bid for an EU-funded pilot project proposed by the association for the installation of a composting machine. He had long nurtured a vision for converting organic waste to compost on a national scale, he told the court.

After his tender failed, he “protested with everybody because I was hurt. That project took up my pension fund,” he said, recalling how he had taken his protests to both local and EU authorities.

He met then prime minister Joseph Muscat at Castille and showed him an e-mail to back up his claims.

“He got angry. He crushed it and said, ‘don’t come to me with these things’,” Bonello said of Muscat’s reaction.

Bonello then went to civil service head Mario Cutajar and wrote to local councils minister Owen Bonnici and EU Funds parliamentary secretary Ian Borg.

Eventually he was contacted by the government’s internal audit and investigations department.

Flatly refused to pay for Magro’s holiday

The struggle eventually took its toll and Bonello’s health deteriorated. “Whether Mr Magro is fined or jailed, I won’t get anything out of it. I just want to lead a quiet life,” an emotional Bonello said on the witness stand.

Asked about Magro’s alleged corruption, Bonello explained that as a former consultant on EU funds, chairman of the tendering board and project manager, it was he who had taken the decision on the tender.

He said that one week or so before the issue of the composting tender, Magro had sent him an e-mail with the tender date and phone number of rival bidder Kollvik Ltd.

“Contact him so that you can work together. Then we will meet later,” the e-mail read.

“How did you know Jimmy Magro?” asked Magistrate Ian Farrugia.

The two had been old school friends and had worked together to set up the first committee for consumer protection, Bonello replied. They had since lost contact.

The two men then met at the Pavi cafeteria where Magro told him about his holiday expenses and outstanding tax bills – and asked for a payment of “10,000”, Bonello said.

When Bonello relayed that conversation to his partner on the tender, Disma Attard, the latter flatly refused to “pay for Magro’s holiday”.

Later, Magro turned up at Attard’s place, accompanied by potential bidder Chris Cassar, and “pressured” him to work with Cassar on the tender.

Magro asked for a “€25,000” cut, Bonello told the court.

Bonello entrusted Attard with submitting the tender document but his hopes were dashed when his partner called him after the closing date saying he had failed to do so because he had “overslept”.

Eventually, the tender was re-issued after the winning bidder defaulted. This time, Bonello went solo and set up his own company to submit a fresh bid.

However, Magro informed him he had been disqualified – rival bidder Kollvik got “100%” and he got “0%”.

His request for a stamped copy of the tender document was refused, he said, insisting that his machine was technologically superior to his rival’s.

In fact, the two large composting machines installed at Ta’ Qali, purchased from Kollvik Ltd, had not even been put into operation years later because of bad technology, Bonello said.

He then wrote to the Local Councils Association seeking direction on filing an appeal but the reply he received on the final day of the appeal term was insufficient.

That was when Bonello decided to protest, which ultimately led to the police filing corruption charges against Magro.

Meanwhile, a manually operated composting system at his home churned out some 120 kilos of organic material monthly, an enthusiastic Bonello told the court.

“While their million-euro investment has not produced one kilo of compost!”

The case continues.

Inspector Wayne Borg prosecuted. Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha, together with Matthew Xuereb were defence counsel.

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi assisted Bonello.