Cleanliness Parliamentary Secretary Glenn Bedingfield awarded direct contracts to his private secretary’s boyfriend, who also happens to be Prime Minister Robert Abela’s personal photographer.

Gareth Degiorgio and his one-man audiovisual company, G Media, were awarded €20,000 in two separate direct orders in March and June 2024 to provide Bedingfield and his boss, Minister Clayton Bartolo, with various audiovisual services for their own public relations.

Gareth Degiorgio started receiving direct orders a few weeks after his girlfriend started working at the Tourism and Public Cleanliness Ministry.

Degiorgio started receiving contracts from the tourism ministry just a few weeks after his girlfriend, Mireille Farrugia, joined Parliamentary Secretary Bedingfield as his private secretary.

Asked to explain this abuse and whether he was aware that his private secretary’s boyfriend was receiving direct orders from his Ministry, Bedingfield admitted. However, he said that “a call for quotations was issued as per government procurement regulations, and G Media was the cheapest. Hence, it was awarded accordingly.”

A call for quotations is not a tender as it is not transparent and can be easily manipulated.

Mireille Farrugia with her boyfriend, Gareth Degiorgio.

Sources at the tourism ministry told The Shift that Minister Clayton Bartolo was unaware of the connection between Farrugia, G Media, and Degiorgio, as it was the office of Parliamentary Secretary Bedingfield who suggested using Degiorgio’s services.

In her early 20s, Farrugia graduated as a lawyer in 2022 and was immediately put on Bedingfield’s payroll as soon as he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in January 2024.

Farrugia, a former member of Labour student organisation Pulse and a regular presence on ONE TV, joined Bedingfield soon after spending a year as an assistant to former Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer in Brussels.

It is not yet known who authorised these contracts nor whether the signatory – a public official – was aware of the conflict of interest.

Gareth Degiorgio, an unknown young photographer until a few years ago, has received tens of thousands in direct orders from the government in the past years since Robert Abela became prime minister.

Degiorgio, who also produces TV programmes on ONE TV, was Abela’s photographer during his campaign for the Labour leadership, during which he beat Chris Fearne.

Once Abela was at Castille, Degiorgio started receiving a raft of direct orders from the Office of the Prime Minister and various other ministries. The office of Tony Sultana, the Principal Permanent Secretary, is also giving Degiorgio various jobs, the last being a €31,000 contract for videography at the Public Service Expo.

Degiorgio was also inserted in the list of producers at the state broadcaster PBS who produce publicly funded programmes on TVM. He also accompanies the prime minister abroad, including in New York, instead of photographers at the Department of Information who are left idle in Malta.