Joseph Muscat is raking it in following his forced resignation as Malta’s Prime Minister, with his cash deposits almost quadrupling over 2020. 

By the end of 2020, Muscat declared that he earned €256,000 in cash deposits and has €38,788 in debt. That left Muscat’s net position by the end of 2020 at €217,212, making him one of Malta’s wealthiest MPs by the time he officially left parliament.

In previous years, Muscat’s balance stood the same with little change between 2014 and 2019, standing at roughly €70,000, his wage as Prime Minister. This raised eyebrows given his family’s spending on holidays, clothes, and schooling.

He holds several assets in his name, including a house in Burmarrad, a property in Rabat, and a Xemxija garage. 

The former Prime Minister stepped down in January 2020 in the aftermath of the arrest of Yorgen Fenech in connection to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and his office’s links to the murder.

Still, Muscat was awarded a €120,000 severance package as Prime Minister, even though his predecessor, Robert Abela, has been forced to deal with the corruption allegations that plagued the previous administration. 

The Times of Malta also recently revealed that Muscat was paid €60,000 from Accutor AG and Spring X Media, two Swiss companies owned by Pakistani lawyer Wasay Bhatti, in the early months of 2020, shortly after his resignation as Prime Minister.

Accutor AG had received €3.6 million from Steward Healthcare during the company’s takeover of the hospital contract from Vitals Global Healthcare.

VGH had been granted a controversial concession for the Gozo General Hospital, St Luke’s Hospital and Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital. The company was forced to sell off their operations to Steward Health Care just 21 months after starting amid growing financial debt, which stood at €36 million by the end of 2017. Its CEO, Ram Tumuluri, reportedly still made off with a €5 million bonus.

Muscat said he had first met Bhatti as an investor with an office in Malta and that the lawyer had approached him for consultancy work shortly after his resignation as Prime Minister.

He has denied wrongdoing, stating that his consultancy work was documented, duly invoiced, declared, and paid in Malta. Bhatti has also denied wrongdoing.

A police report has been filed, but Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa refuses to confirm or deny whether an investigation has been opened. 

What do you think of the figures?