“Even alone, I will continue to fight for the truth,” Joseph Muscat declared in a melodramatic Facebook post. Times of Malta, the Shift and the OCCRP revealed that Muscat received tens of thousands of euros from two Swiss companies, one previously called VGH Europe. Muscat pocketed almost €500,000 in consultancy earnings in just one year, 2020, the year of his forced resignation.
Muscat, that brave warrior for the truth, handed over the baton to his preferred ‘continuity’ candidate in January 2020. Within weeks, Muscat became a “consultant” with various companies, including two that received millions from Steward. Muscat’s chair in Castille was still warm when he started receiving €15,000 monthly deposits into his BOV account from the company formerly called VGH Europe.
But Muscat claimed he’s the victim of a “concerted attack by the usual suspects”. Perhaps he was referring to the auditor general who lambasted Muscat.
The NAO report condemned Muscat for his secrecy and deviousness. It lamented “the limited disclosures by the prime minister”. It commented that “the prime minister and the chief of staff OPM were frugal in their submissions to the NAO”. The man who bragged about welcoming scrutiny was rather coy with the NAO.
Muscat actively frustrated the NAO’s efforts to uncover the truth. His government and officials refused to provide information, documentation, or honest testimony. Konrad Mizzi refused to speak to the NAO. The NAO deemed this “a matter of grave concern”. The NAO got its information from Steward and Chris Fearne instead.
The NAO was left with unanswered basic questions because of Muscat’s dishonesty and secrecy. “The NAO had no visibility over most parts of the negotiation process,” the report read. “The reasons for the limited time frame (for Steward’s takeover) remained obscure to the NAO”, “Limited information was provided to the NAO about the initial approach to SHC (Steward)”.
Muscat lied and lied. He claimed that VGH informed his government that Steward were interested in the concession at a meeting. He claimed VGH informed him that discussions with Steward were at an advanced stage. In fact, the government was holding negotiations with Steward “to the exclusion of VGH” despite the fact that VGH owned the concession.
Keith Schembri claimed that Armin Ernst, Steward’s CEO, contacted him when he and Muscat were in New York at a UN meeting. Muscat claimed he was unaware who contacted who. But when he gave evidence in court on January 18, 2021 “the prime minister could not recall who approached Steward to take over”. Ernst claimed it was Muscat’s government that approached Steward and then gave Steward “a mere two weeks to agree to take on the responsibilities of the concession”.
But Mizzi’s permanent secretary revealed Muscat had directed Mizzi to meet Ernst in London on October 31, 2017. No documentation or record of those meetings was provided to the NAO by Muscat or his government.
The NAO was left with unanswered basic questions because of Joseph Muscat’s dishonesty and secrecy- Kevin Cassar
“The NAO’s attempts at understanding how the change in concession originated remained unresolved due to divergencies, ambiguities and conflicts in accounts.” So much for “fighting for the truth”.
There was worse. Fearne revealed that, just weeks before Muscat was forced out, Mizzi was negotiating secretly with Steward to increase their payments without any increase in services. When Fearne found out, he confronted Muscat who promised him, that he, Fearne, would be responsible for negotiations. But behind Fearne’s back, Muscat allowed Mizzi to continue to negotiate with Steward without Fearne.
The NAO couldn’t believe it. “The unorthodox dynamic that persisted between the prime minister and MFT (Mizzi)… remained a matter of grave concern.” Muscat’s excuse was that Mizzi “was an able project manager”.
Muscat’s insistence on retaining Mizzi “was deemed illogical by the NAO”. In fact, it was perfectly logical. Muscat needed Mizzi as his scapegoat. Muscat had complete control over Mizzi. He protected him after the Panama Papers debacle. Muscat’s domineering control of Mizzi was highlighted by Mizzi’s permanent secretary who revealed the role played by Muscat – “direction was given to the minister by OPM”.
Mizzi was just doing Muscat’s bidding.
As early as November 10, 2017, Mizzi got his private lawyers, Mifsud Bonnici Advocates, to conduct enhanced due diligence on Steward. By December 29, 2017, Mizzi approved Steward’s takeover, without cabinet approval. Cabinet approval was only obtained on January 9, 2018.
Muscat was lying again. He insisted that the cabinet knew about and approved everything. When he was challenged “the PM informed the NAO that he was aware of and agreed with the approval, the responsibility for the decision was ultimately his”.
Muscat claimed Fearne was informed and was a key stakeholder. Fearne insisted he only found out about the takeover from the media.
Things kept getting worse. Mizzi and Muscat agreed for the government to assume responsibility to repay over €36 million of Steward’s debt with Bank of Valletta. Yet, none of those agreements were brought to the attention of cabinet. Muscat was confronted by the NAO. He maintained that “approval for collateral was granted (by cabinet) in July 2017”, a year earlier, when Vitals was still the concessionaire. Cabinet never knew about those millions.
But the killer blow was Mizzi’s agreement with Steward for the government to pay Steward €100 million and all of its debt if the concession were terminated, irrespective of who was to blame. When Mizzi presented the memorandum to cabinet on August 26, 2019 the actual agreement wasn’t even appended. The cabinet was not even aware of its implications. Muscat claimed he only “became aware of the government’s role as guarantor when legal action was lodged by the leader of the opposition”. He even falsely claimed that the clause did not apply if Steward defaulted.
Muscat had good reason for his “illogical” decisions. As the pieces fall into place, everybody realises what he was up to. Nobody believes him, apart from Emanuel Cuschieri. The NAO spelt it out: “The NAO maintains an element of reservation regarding that stated by the PM.”
That the man is a deceitful double-dealing crook was never in doubt. What is tragic is that his members of cabinet knew it. He duped them too. Instead of protecting the nation from his crookedness and revealing what they knew, they shielded him – and still do. It might be cowardice, false loyalty, or blackmail. Whichever one it is, they are as culpable as he is.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.