Arnold Cassola demands probe into Ian Borg’s direct orders to TEC

Independent election candidate Arnold Cassola has requested Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to initiate an investigation into The Shift’s revelations linked to Minister Ian Borg and questionable direct orders to The Events Company (TEC).

On Saturday, The Shift revealed that TEC provided Borg with at least six massive tents and related costly services to organise electoral campaign events in his districts during the last general elections. Just a few months before the general elections, Borg’s ministry issued some 20 direct orders worth almost €0.5 million to the same company in just one day.

“In this country of ours, run by politicians who are dirty and untruthful, something happens every day,” Cassola wrote, while asking Hyzler to investigate The Shift’s article.

Cassola asked Hyzler to look into how Borg gave €0.5 million to TEC in just one day and whether the services given to Borg by TEC during his personal electoral campaign were a “kind of commission”.

“If they were not (a commission), and Borg paid for them himself, this means that he broke the law as it exceeds the €40,000 permissible by law,” he noted.

Cassola requested that Hyzler verifies whether Borg was truthful in his declaration of spendings.

Borg refused to answer questions by The Shift about how many times he used TEC and related companies during the last electoral campaign, or to provide a breakdown of expenses incurred, including receipts to prove payments.

He told this newsroom that he has already presented his campaign expenses declaration to the electoral commission in which all details were listed. Asked to provide a copy of this report, as the Electoral Commission has still not made it public, as it is obliged by law to do, Borg refused.

Sources close to the events industry told The Shift that each time a tent, such as that used by Borg, is procured, TEC normally charges clients between €6,000 and €10,000 per event. In all, Borg organised massive gatherings using TEC’s tents on at least six occasions in different locations, including Dingli, Mgarr, Siggiewi, Rabat, Qormi, and Zebbug.