Opposition calls for Joseph Cuschieri’s dismissal following Tribunal ruling

The Opposition has called for the removal of disgraced former MFSA boss Joseph Cuschieri following a report by The Shift on the results of a Tribunal hearing that awarded a former employee close to half a million euro in damages for unfair dismissal.

The PN said the people should not have to pay for the injustice committed by Cuschieri at the MFSA. The Shift revealed on Monday that the Industrial Tribunal awarded a former MFSA employee a record €413,688 in compensation, which will have to be paid by taxpayers.

Cuschieri was removed following press revelations that he had travelled to Las Vegas with his mistress, Edwina Licari, on a trip funded by Yorgen Fenech, who operated businesses supposedly regulated by the authorities in which Cuschieri and Licari occupied top positions.

Yet Energy and Environment Minister Miriam Dalli gave Cuschieri a new post as CEO of Project Green at a salary of €86,000 per year.

In a strongly worded decision, the Industrial Tribunal condemned the illegal manner in which Joseph Cuschieri acted towards the former MFSA employee, causing him and his family undue hardship in an illegal and unjust manner.

The Tribunal concluded that the employee was suddenly dismissed because he performed his duties correctly and did not allow Joseph Cuschieri to breach rules and laws.  It was also decided that the employee who suffered the injustice should be reinstated in his position within the MFSA.

“Following this decision, which took five years to be delivered, Joseph Cuschieri’s position as CEO of Project Green is no longer tenable. Minister Miriam Dalli must immediately remove Cuschieri, and if she does not, Prime Minister Robert Abela must dismiss him,” the PN said in a statement issued by Jerome Caruana Cilia, Shadow Minister for the Economy and Enterprise, and Graham Bencini, Shadow Minister for Finance.

“It is unacceptable for a high-ranking government official to remain in such a position. If he is not removed, Robert Abela will be perpetuating a culture of impunity in the country. He would be rewarding those who do wrong, break the law, and ruin people’s lives,” they added.

The Opposition stressed the MFSA must immediately take the necessary legal steps to ensure that the damages rightly owed to the employee are not paid out of public taxes but by those who blatantly and shamelessly committed this illegality.

The MFSA Board of Governors, as well as the Executive Committee, cannot remain silent in the face of such injustice, the PN said, adding that Malta’s reputation in the financial sector has already suffered significant blows and cannot afford more scandals.