Blame it on Sant (2)

Some gutter type journalist has suggested that I probably regret writing the article 'Blame it on Sant' featured in this blog as per link below on 23rd January 2013, as it has backfired on me once my brother Tarcisio has been since arraigned in court charged with corruption related to some time when until February 2004 he was a senior executive in the finance department at Enemalta.

Blame it on Sant (1)

I regret nothing.    What I had anticipated has in fact been confirmed through Mr Frank Sammut's own testimony in court, where he confirms that he was fronting for others and others were fronting for him.

Well, let the criminal proceedings follow their normal course and let everybody be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Who is not exculpated however is Minister Austin Gatt and Minister Tonio Fenech under whose watch this whole epic-sized corruption took place.  They cannot escape political responsibility and it is a shame that the media is letting them off so lightly as they focus on the charade going on where the police are parading small fry and charging them with corruption for having received a silver platter gift from George Farrugia.

Unless the police have resources to spare they should adopt a risk management approach and focus on who received the millions not on who received a token silver platter.    How ridiculous can we be?

As to my brother I firmly protest his innocence and his being paraded purely for cheap political purposes to divert attention from the real political responsibility on which the electorate has to pass judgement on March 9th.   It is disgraceful that the police tried to keep my brother without bail describing him as uncooperative purely because he protested his innocence.  

What I can say about my brother is that whereas I met several who complained that he was too strict and inflexible in enforcing discipline and corporate governance standards I never met anyone who even remotely intimated about him any involvement in corruption.  

I can also vouch that my brother should have retired from Enemalta in November 2005 at age 61.  When the management at Enemalta under the Chairmanship of Tancred Tabone and the consultancy of Frank Sammut started making him feel untrusted and miserable he asked to advance his retirement by a few months to account for the leave he rarely took over the years.   To his surprise he was instigated to accept instant early retirement in February 2004 on full pay and benefits, car and petrol included.

I remember Tarcisio feeling offended that they were so keen to get rid of him so quickly.   I had to struggle to persuade him to accept as it was useless wasting one's life in a place where he is untrusted.   Now we know why.

For so many loyal years of service to Enemalta he was almost murdered following the 1998 elections and he is now being paraded like a villain for pure political purposes.   But in the end truth will prevail.