Joseph Muscat Was Given €540,000 Contract By Swiss Firm Linked To Steward, Matthew Caruana Galizia Claims
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was given a €540,000 contract by a Swiss firm and payments to him only stopped when the UBS bank closed down the company’s accounts, Matthew Caruana Galizia has claimed.
Police recently raided Muscat’s home in connection with payments he had received from Accutor AG, a Swiss company run by lawyer Wasay Bhatti which had received €3.6 million from Steward Healthcare during the period it had taken over the hospitals concession from Vitals Global Healthcare.
As reported by Times of Malta last November, Muscat received some €60,000 from Accutor AG in consultancy fees shortly after his 2019 resignation as Prime Minister in the wake of a political crisis sparked by Yorgen Fenech’s arrest for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
However, Caruana Galizia – son of Daphne Caruana Galizia – has now said that the €60,000 payment is only half the story.
“What he got is a contract worth €540,000: €15,000 per month for a minimum of 36 months,” he tweeted.
“The payments only paused when UBS flagged them and closed Accutor’s accounts. Unless he can prove the contract is terminated by mutual agreement, €480,000 is still due to Muscat.”
After the raid, Muscat said he had prepared a file with all information regarding his relationship with Accutor AG, including projects he worked on and trips he had taken, back in November after Times of Malta revealed the payments.
He said he had asked magistrate Gabriella Vella to testify and present this information to her but that his request was turned down.
“For one reason or another, the path of theatrics was chosen. Maybe someone wanted to send a message that police entered my home,” Muscat said.
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