€4 million unaccounted for by Film Commission to be scrutinised

The Malta Film Commission (MFC) has been asked to provide evidence to parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of how €4 million of taxpayer funds, which were supposed to be used for infrastructure upgrades, were spent.

The PAC, which meets on Tuesday, has been scrutinising the MFC’s controversial activities in recent years, and its findings have revealed what appears to be a significant discrepancy in the state entity’s accounts.

According to a presentation by the National Audit Office (NAO) to parliament, some €4 million funds were unaccounted for.

According to the NAO, while the Film Commission received €7.2 million between 2019 and 2022 to upgrade its infrastructure—mainly the tanks at the Malta Film Studios—its accounts show that only €2.4 million was spent.

However, while the accounts show that some €4.8 million was not spent on capital expenditures, the same financial statements show that the Commission only had €1.2 million in current assets and receivables, including €800,000 in cash at the bank.

This leaves a full €4 million unaccounted for.

The PAC chaired by PN MP Darren Carabott, has now asked the Commission and the government to provide a detailed explanation, including proof of payment, of where and what the outstanding €4 million has been spent.

The ongoing PAC scrutiny focuses on just one massive cost paid by the Commission just before the 2022 elections. It does not cover other massive concerns on unaccounted-for costs during the most recent years, including two editions of a glitzy Mediterrane Film Festival.

For the latest edition (2024), Film Commissioner Johann Grech spent just half a million on filming a small promotional production in which he played a prime role.

The 2022 Film Awards

In January 2022, just weeks before the general elections, Grech, also involved in the PL’s election team, organised a Film Week culminating in a spectacular awards ceremony.

The ceremony served as a propaganda exercise for the government.

According to information published in the Government Gazette, Grech authorised some €2 million in payments through 112 different direct orders for this event.

Most of them were awarded to the same contractors, who just a few weeks after, were used by the Labour Party for its electoral campaign.

The direct orders included €153,000 to Ray Vella & Company Ltd, which supplied massive LED screens for Labour’s campaign; €140,000 to Carmelo Magro of TEC Ltd, who built the PL’s mass meeting stages; €151,000 to Nexos, which provided Labour’s stage lights, among other things; and €94,000 to Besteam Audio, Labour’s sound provider.

Other direct orders dished out by Grech for the 2022 Film Awards included thousands paid to AF Sign Studio, which took care of Labours billboards, Sharpshoot media, owned by Kurt Farrugia’s brother and GMedia – Robert Abela’s photographer Gareth Degiorgio.

In some cases, the direct orders were approved weeks after the event.

The Labour Party never explained how it spent millions on its 2022 campaign and refuses to provide information.

The government continues to defend Johann Grech despite a series of blunders that have been exposed in recent years.