A former CEO of the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) was yesterday sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended for three years after being found guilty of embezzling public funds related to the Agency.
Joseph Michael Baldacchino, 61, who served as the CEO of the Agency between 2016 and 2018, faced a number of charges including embezzlement and misappropriation. This followed an investigation by the Financial Investigation Directorate within the Internal Audit and Investigation Department, which concluded he used the agency’s funds to purchase items for himself and even used the agency’s employees to work for him privately, including during their official hours of work. He was only found guilty of the first charge: embezzlement.
In its judgment, the Court presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello first analysed a refund claimed by Baldacchino for a €38.75 meal at a Ta’ Xbiex restaurant, which meal, according to Baldacchino, was a ‘Compensation Meal’ rewarded to a female coordinator within the agency who, according to him, saved the agency ‘thousands of euros’ and ‘was outstanding in her work’. Baldacchino also claimed that he gave her a €100 voucher, which was also funded by the agency.
Yet, when testifying, the coordinator denied that she had ever attended the lunch in question.
Baldacchino then ‘radically’ changed his version of events when testifying before the Court. He claimed that in actual fact, he had said lunch with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
He stated that although he was not authorised by the Permanent Secretary to use agency funds for meals with persons other than agency employees and although he was expressly instructed not to host lunches with others at the expense of the agency, he nonetheless defied such instructions owing to the fact that he disagreed with them.
He claimed that he presented the meal bill to be refunded as petty cash and said that he had instead had lunch with the coordinator.
The Court also heard how a man employed at the rate of €4 per hour by the agency as a cleaner at the Hal Far open centre carried out work on Baldacchino’s boat, even during work hours.
The cleaner testified that in June 2017, over a period of three days, he was picked up by Baldacchino’s son from the tent village and taken to a Kalkara garage wherein the accused’s boat was stored. It was in this garage that he spent some 26 hours cleaning Baldacchino’s boat.
Although Baldacchino claimed that he had entrusted his son the sum of €120 in order to pay the cleaner, the latter testified that he did not receive a single penny from the Baldacchino family for his work.
Documentation and evidence concluded that the cleaner would ultimately be paid for the cleaning work by the Agency, with the cheques to this end being signed by Baldacchino, who, the Court contended, could not possibly have been unaware of the fact that the relevant payments forwarded to the cleaner included sums relating to the work carried out on his own boat.
Another event considered by the court related to Baldacchino’s request for one of two shower trays purchased by the Agency to be taken to his own home in Birkirkara.
The tray was in light of this request transported to Baldacchino’s residence by a car which was used by the accused as CEO of the Agency.
Soon after, the accused told Agency employees that he was unable to find anyone who could install the shower tray, with Senior Technical Officer Brian Zammit subsequently offering to affect such installation himself alongside Agency workers.
To this end, Zammit alongside two other agency employees installed the shower tray on a Saturday, outside their working hours. Although the agency workers refused payment, Baldacchino stated that he had provided them with a bottle of whiskey as a sign of gratitude.
In this vein, the Court condemned Baldacchino’s behaviour, noting that although he was in view of his role entrusted to ensure that the agency’s property would be applied for the benefit of the agency, he instead made use of the property for his own gain.
Zammit also testified that Baldacchino had on various occasions instructed him to buy a pump, paints and a stainless-steel pipe. The purchases of the pump and paints were made by way of cheques issued by the Agency, with the stainless-steel pipe also being delivered directly to Baldacchino’s home.
In reaching its decision, the Court took into account Baldacchino’s unchequered criminal record and the fact that the value of the objects and funds in question were not particularly substantial.
Yet, it simultaneously noted that it could not ignore the fact that Baldacchino abused of his position as CEO of the Agency by systematically using agency employees and funds for his own personal benefit. It was noted that upon appointment, Baldacchino evidently decided that the Agency was to be run not only in line with its legal aims, but also in order to satisfy his own needs. The Court condemned this behaviour, noting that the accused breached the trust placed in him in order to administer public funds. Whilst it appreciated the strenuous nature of the role of Chief Executive Officer, such pressure could never justify the accused’s conduct.
In addition to the suspended sentence of imprisonment, Baldacchino was also ordered to return the sum of €602 as compensation for the losses incurred by the agency as a result of his conduct.
