Court confirms MFSA’s record fine of €414,000 slamming disgraced former CEO Joseph Cuschieri

The Court of Appeal, presided over by Judge Lawrence Mintoff, has confirmed in its entirety a decision by the Industrial Tribunal, finding the MFSA and its then-CEO, Joseph Cuschieri, guilty of abuse of power in the sacking of one of its Chief Officers.

In a landmark decision, the government, through the MFSA, will have to compensate Reuben Fenech with a €414,000 award for the losses incurred since he was sacked and will have to reinstate the chief officer back into his position, which carries a financial package of around €120,000 a year.

The fault of this unprecedented sentence was attributed to Cuschieri, the disgraced former CEO who had to resign after a series of abuses and breaches of ethics.

“It seems that the CEO (Cuschieri) had a problem following the established rules of a public organisation he was entrusted to lead,” the court said.

It is unclear whether the government or the MFSA will now sue Cuschieri, now CEO of Project Green, thanks to Minister Miriam Dalli, for his incompetence and abuse in an attempt to recoup some of the damages to be paid to Fenech from state coffers.

The court dismissed arguments made by the MFSA’s lawyer, Matthew Brincat from Ganado Advocates, that Fenech was fired due to non-performance.

Instead, the court confirmed that Cuschieri was entirely in the wrong and tried to dismiss Fenech after the latter signalled to him various acts of wrongdoing, including in the issue of direct orders.

During court hearings, Cuschieri admitted that he hired people he knew and ordered consultancies and other contracts without following rules or obtaining authorisation.

The court confirmed that while Fenech was doing his job by trying to give Cuschieri professional advice on following the rules and avoiding irregularities, Cuschieri considered him a stumbling block instead of a diligent officer trying to follow the rules.

Following his forced resignation in 2020, Cuscheri was awarded numerous government consultancy contracts, in addition to his appointment as CEO of Project Green. He is entrusted with millions of public funds and is responsible for issuing tenders for large infrastructure projects.