Monica Farrugia, the former executive director at Enemalta who lost her job along with its former CEO Jonathan Cardona following a complete grid meltdown in the summer, has a new job at the Home Affairs Ministry, advising on selling Maltese passports.

The Shift previously revealed that Cardona was back in his previous role as chief executive officer at the Residency Malta Agency, responsible for selling Maltese residency permits, while Farrugia will take up a position advising Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri on the sale of Maltese passports and residence schemes.

Cardona was removed from his position on the order of Prime Minister Robert Abela after the unprecedented failure of Malta’s energy grid, closely followed by Farrugia, who is also a long-time member of the Labour Party’s Executive Committee.

Farrugia previously worked with Cardona at the cash-for-passports state agency before being recruited by him as an executive director when he was appointed to Enemalta by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli. Her role, helping him with HR and other matters, saw her take home almost €105,000 a year over the four-year term of the contract.

According to her new contract, Farrugia will face a significant pay cut as she is set to receive around €56,000 a year as the minister’s advisor.

It has not been publicly stated why Farrugia left Enemalta, but sources told The Shift that the prime minister’s order to remove Cardona also extended to Farrugia, the two most senior officers at Enemalta.

They also stated that there were clear instructions the two should not work in the same institution again.

Farrugia’s new role at the ministry does not see her working directly with Cardona, although their tasks in passports and residency promotion align.

Long-term colleagues

Farrugia and Cardona have been working together since 2013 when she was his assistant before being promoted to the chief commercial officer at Identity Malta.

At Identity Malta, Cardona and Farrugia travelled extensively, ‘promoting’ the sale of Maltese passports to wealthy third-country clients.

In four years, the two ran up a travel bill of almost €300,000 in luxury hotels and business class travel, visiting places such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Monaco, China, Brazil, and Ukraine, among others.

Farrugia was also appointed to serve on the Board of Governors of the National Development and Social Fund soon after Cardona was made its chairman.