Fuel procurement: auditor defends findings, says 'ours was not an investigation'

Auditor General Anthony Mifsud this morning defended the audit carried out by his office on Enemalta’s fuel procurement between 2008 and 2010 and shrugged off criticism that officials involved at the time were not given the opportunity to state their version and that personal notes were taken to be minutes. Reluctant to give any comments after he was sworn in for a second five year term by the President George Abela this morning, Mr Mifsud refused to state why he did not meet and interview former Minister Austin Gatt, who was responsible for the corporation, former chairman Alex Tranter and former chief financial officer Pippo Pandolfino. “Ours was not an investigation and that is why we didn’t feel the need to interview them,” Mr Mifsud said. Pressed to state whether the audit erroneously misread the personal notes of a committee member for official minutes of the committee, Mr Mifsud said this was not a mistake. “Personal notes are not signed, put in a sealed envelope and kept in a safe,” he said. Earlier this week, Times of Malta reported former CFO Pippo Pandolfino stating that the 'minutes', which the audit office reproduced in its report, were personal notes he kept during...