It’s not just about Muscat’s ‘Indian’ narrative

Joseph Muscat and his lawyer Charlon Gouder have for the past fortnight been using social media to peddle the message that the Vitals case is a second Egrant.

They also tried to paint a picture that the inquiry findings were based entirely on the words of an Indian ‘whistleblower’ in an attempt to equate the situation with that of Maria Efimova, the Russian ‘whistleblower’, in the Egrant case.

Gouder has on multiple occasions used the hashtags ‘Egrant2’ and ‘Indjan’ in an attempt to discredit Magistrate Gabriella Vella’s findings as some sort of witch hunt.

The Indian man Muscat and Gouder are referring to is a former director and owner of the Swiss company Accutor that received money from Steward Health Care for a ‘political and government support fund’. Accutor paid Muscat as a consultant when he stepped down from Castille. Coincidentally, Accutor also engaged Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi as consultants.

The Indian man’s testimony to the inquiry is based mostly on hearsay evidence, which is why Muscat et al have been trying to discredit the whole process. The Indian man is also being charged.

Indeed, for the past two weeks with everybody else oblivious of the inquiry findings, Muscat and his lawyer were trying to dictate the narrative by suggesting the Vitals case is built on unreliable testimony.

They tried to pull a fast one and the ploy may have worked for some time. But when MaltaToday published the full inquiry for all to see, the curated façade came crumbling down.

A careful reading of the 1,200-page inquiry shows that the magistrate’s conclusions were based on numerous email exchanges, WhatsApp messages, reams of documents and forensic analysis of bank accounts and money transfers. The Indian man’s testimony is almost irrelevant.

The Vitals inquiry makes for some grim reading because it shows how a public health concession was crafted from inception as a vehicle for personal gain.

It is shameful that Schembri, Mizzi and their proxies sought to profit off the widest gamut of public health services. The inquiry speaks of suspected commissions and consultancy fees linked to the construction of the Barts Campus in Gozo; the soon-to-be inaugurated Censu Moran health centre in Paola; medical equipment to the Sir Anthony Mamo oncology centre; medical supplies to the three public hospitals forming part of the consortium; and the never-built hospital at Smart City.

Investigators revealed how these people found obscure ways of skimming funds that were coming from public coffers through bogus consultancy contracts, marked-up prices for supplies, secretive companies and proxies.

And in all this, Muscat wants us to believe that he noticed nothing untoward despite Schembri and Mizzi being his most trusted confidantes. He wants us to believe that he saw or heard nothing despite several red flags going up all around him.

The biggest red flag was apparent to everyone else in the country – the failure of the investors (VGH and later Steward) to live up to contractual commitments and build a new general hospital in Gozo, attract medical tourism to a refurbished St Luke’s Hospital and improve the physical state and service at Karin Grech Hospital.

The lack of investment was there for everyone to see apart from Muscat… it seems. And to top it all, in August of 2019, Muscat allowed Mizzi to enter into a side agreement with Steward that would oblige the government to pay them €100 million if the courts struck down the deal.

The picture Muscat paints of himself is that of a very naïve politician who was used and abused by those he trusted. The picture the Vitals inquiry paints is one of a politician who knew what was happening and allowed it to continue happening.

After all, it was Muscat who kept Mizzi as a minister tasked with handling the contractual arrangements with Vitals and Steward despite removing him from the health portfolio. And it was Muscat who kept Mizzi and Schembri in positions of power even after the Panama Papers scandal broke. Muscat cannot wash his hands of those he trusted at all costs.