Opinion: I want my money

“Neither the government nor the opposition nor an NGO” can demand his resignation, the omnipotent Central Bank governor and the man charged with misappropriation, Edward Scicluna, declared. ‘Nobody is going to take my massive income away from me’ was his message.

His pocket has always been his overwhelming priority. It still is, as he approaches the mature age of 78, despite having amassed 700,000 euros in personal bank deposits and another 150,000 in government bonds. For Edward, there’s no such thing as too much.

As he arrived in Court to face criminal charges, Scicluna sent a message to Robert Abela: you can’t kick me out of the Central Bank governor post – I’m here to stay. To remove me, he announced, you’ll have to go to the European court of Justice.  I’m not a minister in your cabinet whose sacking is your prerogative – I’m Central Bank governor, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Scicluna simply has no shame and no self-respect.  His mentality is precisely the same as that of the crowd who gathered before the court a day earlier to welcome their heroes – Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat.

For them, crime doesn’t matter, no matter how huge.  For them, the only thing that matters is “il-but” – the pocket.

One of them articulated the sentiment eloquently: “what do I care about corruption, the important thing is that he paid me”. (“X’jippurtani, l-aqwa li jtini”).

“Ghamilna nies”, one man commented, referring to Joseph Muscat, implying that Muscat improved his economic status, before adding “l-aqwa l-but” (my income comes first).

The only difference between that man jabbing his finger into the journalist’s chest and Scicluna is that the latter wore a tailor-made suit and appears to have a full set of teeth.  And there’s one other thing – the toothless gentleman is happy with a two hundred euro rise in his pension; it takes a little bit more to satisfy Scicluna.

Scicluna’s overwhelming greed blinds him to the damage and embarrassment he’s causing his country by desperately clinging to his post.

A former finance minister facing criminal charges of misappropriation of funds should not be representing any country in any position, let alone as Central Bank governor. It’s crystal clear to any half-decent human being what Scicluna should do, but not to Scicluna.

Scicluna remembers the times of severe austerity when he was forced to report from the counting halls of Naxxar. The trauma of deprivation during Mintoff’s years must have left its mark – an overwhelming, insatiable greed that dominates his psyche.

He told us under oath that although he was convinced Konrad Mizzi’s position was untenable after the Panama Paper revelations, he still voted in his support.

His explanation for those diametrically opposed positions was that he’d given up a 100,000 euro job in Brussels and couldn’t be expected to give up his ministerial post for such a minor issue as a criminal organisation being run from the prime minister’s office. Did you expect him to lose his ministerial salary to protect the nation from industrial-scale looting?

The man simply lacks self-respect. He’s immune to embarrassment. He’s like a cartoon figure with dollar signs for eyes—completely blind to the revulsion and nausea he induces.

When Robert Abela wanted to move him out of the cabinet to replace him with Clyde Caruana, Scicluna resisted.  Not because he felt Caruana was unsuitable for the post or because he couldn’t do a better job. No, Scicluna resisted because he didn’t want to lose his remuneration.

He embarrassed Abela, forcing him to delay his reshuffle until Scicluna got what he wanted – a better-paid, easier job than the one he had.

Abela had to force out another Labour stalwart, Mario Vella, from his position at the Central Bank to make way for Scicluna. Scicluna shamelessly boosted the salary of the Central Bank governor from 89,000 euros to 100,000 euros just weeks before he took the post himself.

Scicluna had written to Mario Vella on 21 July 2016, informing him that he’d been appointed Central Bank governor and that his remuneration “will remain unchanged throughout your term of office.” But when Scicluna twisted Abela’s arm to appoint him instead of Mario Vella, he swiftly boosted that salary by 11,000 euros.

When Scicluna finally moved to the Central Bank, he moved employees who had been in post for decades out to make way for his own people.  He removed the Central Bank Governor driver, who’d been in post for almost 30 years, to replace him with his own canvasser.  He insisted on bringing his own personal secretary with him to the central bank at the expense of other staff who were moved out.

That vicious streak was evident when he openly attacked the FIAU to defend the very people now charged with serious crimes – Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and Joseph Muscat. “I want to know whether they (FIAU officials) were really apolitical?…Were these reports written to be leaked?” Scicluna commented.

Those reports were one report on the Panama papers and Konrad Mizzi’s alleged criminal activities and another about Keith Schembri’s alleged money laundering.

Days later, two senior FIAU officials were sacked – Jonathan Ferris, head of the financial analysis section and Charles Cronin, head of compliance. Scicluna refused to reply whether he was behind their sacking.

He later denied involvement, but he wrote to the PANA chairman in July 2017, claiming their sacking was “according to the law”.  Six years later an industrial tribunal found Ferris’ sacking unlawful, discriminatory, and unjustified.

Scicluna even committed perjury, testifying before the Caruana Galizia inquiry that he appointed Silvio Valletta on the FIAU Board because “he was the most senior” out of a list of three candidates submitted.  On that list was Pierre Calleja, an Assistant Police Commissioner far more senior than Valletta.

Edward Scicluna will do anything for money – lie under oath, sack officials, destroy the country, defend crooks, protect those accused of serious crimes, and completely humiliate himself, repeatedly.