Joseph Muscat Failed To Show Up To Evidence Disclosure Session In April, Inquiry Reveals
Former prime minister Joseph Muscat failed to show up to a court session in April that was intended to provide him the disclosure of evidence compiled against him during the criminal investigation into the Vitals Global Healthcare deal, according to the inquiry’s conclusions.
The sitting was scheduled for 9th April 2024 but it was cancelled because Muscat “did not show up”.
This news is particularly interesting because after the charges against him were revealed to the public, Muscat claimed that his rights were breached because he was never given the chance to testify in the inquiry.
He further criticised that he was charged with corruption and money laundering without being questioned by the police about the evidence gathered in the inquiry.
The inquiry into the deals was concluded on 25th April and it was released to the public by MaltaToday on 26th May.
It revealed that Muscat had objected to providing the passcodes to the electronics seized from his home during the investigation, prompting the intervention of US Homeland Security.
An analysis of Muscat’s bank account also featured in the inquiry and found that, after he stepped down from his post as prime minister, a series of significant inflows of money was recorded in his account.
These included payments from Accutor Consulting AG, Global Ports Holding PLC, Kohli Ventures Limited, and Spring XMedia AG, among others.
If you want to check out the inquiry with the help of AI, check out the Vitals GPT tool created by Sean Ellul that Lovin Malta shared last month.
UPDATE: Muscat’s legal team submitted a right of reply.
“We are responding on behalf of Dr Joseph Muscat regarding points raised in your article “Joseph Muscat failed to show up to evidence disclosure in April, inquiry reveals” by Ms Tortell.
Kindly note that the former Prime Minister had been asking the inquiring magistrate for more than a year to testify and answer questions, a request she ignored. The Inquiring Magistrate decided to call Dr Muscat ONLY after he had filed constitutional proceedings asking, amongst other things, for her removal from the inquiry. Upon being notified of this request, Dr Muscat filed an application in the constitutional proceedings filed against the state attorney and attorney general asking the court to provide for the necessary measures because what was being requested by the same Magistrate would have obviously impinged on the constitutional proceedings. In the meantime, the inquiring magistrate concluded the inquiry and sent it to the attorney general.
Dr Muscat would have wished to further comment on the contents of your article but cannot do so by virtue of a court decree prohibiting him from doing so”.
What do you make of this news?
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