Ex-canvasser facing corruption charges is still paid half his FTS salary

Edward Caruana, who is facing bribery and corruption charges, is still on the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools’ books, the Times of Malta is informed. Despite declarations that Mr Caruana was no longer employed by the foundation and was transferred to another government department, information given in Parliament indicates otherwise. Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi tabled a parliamentary question asking Education Minister Evarist Bartolo for a list of FTS employees since Labour returned to power in 2013. It resulted that Mr Caruana still received half the salary as the FTS’s head of summer projects, the maintenance division and coordination unit. Mr Caruana is paid almost €20,000 a year. Before, he had a basic salary of €40,000, in line with a direct employment contract concluded in 2013.  When corruption allegations against Mr Caruana first surfaced in October 2016, Mr Bartolo told this newspaper he had ordered his transfer to another department and for the FTS to sever all contact. Mr Caruana received a full salary between October 2016 and October 2017 after suspending himself from work before he was arraigned. While serving the suspension, Mr Caruana acted as a Labour Party...