San Andrea School has appointed a retired judge and a major audit firm to investigate claims of financial misappropriation at the school to the tune of over €4 million.
A spokesperson for the private school’s board told Times of Malta that Judge Emeritus Joseph Zammit Mckeon has been appointed to lead an inquiry into allegations by former assistant head Trevor Templeman of financial mismanagement.
We are taking all of this very seriously and have appointed persons of unimpeachable reputation to look into these claims- San Andrea School spokesperson
The school spokesperson added that Big Four audit firm PWC has also been tasked with carrying out a separate “fact-finding exercise”.
This financial review will then be handed to Zammit Mckeon who, aside from financial matters, is also to look into other claims being made about the way the school was run.
“We are taking all of this very seriously and have appointed persons of unimpeachable reputation to look into these claims. If needs be, we will then pass on the findings to the police,” the spokesperson said.
In a letter sent to parents earlier this week, the school urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.
School encourages parents to be 'prudent'
The school also encouraged parents to be “prudent” and not contact the inquiry “frivolously”.
“Enough damage has been done to the school, so now it is up to us to unite to keep the school’s reputable name,” the letter reads.
Templeman is alleging that the school’s principal told him and one of the school’s assistant heads, Ruth Azzopardi, that former chairperson Kevin Spiteri benefited from projects totalling some €4 million.
Templeman claims Spiteri made some €200,000 in “miscellaneous” transactions and that a former member of staff was paid €25,000 to keep quiet.
He alleges there was also a questionable contract to rent a property belonging to Spiteri.
Templeman went public with the allegations after claiming he was “sidelined and intimidated” by the school’s management team when he flagged financial issues that were highlighted to him by school principal Stefania Bartolo.
She suspended herself soon after the allegations were made last month and denies any wrongdoing.
The school’s chairperson, Alex Tortell, has also stepped aside for the duration of the inquiry as a measure of good governance, to be completely distant from the proceedings. The claimed financial mismanagement predates his term in office.