New details over a lucrative monthly consultancy fee former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat obtained soon after resigning as Prime Minister in 2020 have been revealed.

Muscat had secured the monthly consultancy contract worth a staggering €11,800 following a questionable government deal surrounding the Dragonara Casino, which had drawn widespread criticism after the government cut the annual ground rent payments alongside a 64 year property lease extension without a public tender.

No less than nine months later, Muscat began receiving the monthly payments from a company that specialises in exotic birds and reportedly making a loss, the Times of Malta reported. The bird company is owned by casino managing director and shareholder Johann Schembri.

The casino was saved “millions”in this deal; Muscat made €141,600 annually, with payments starting in April, 2020, when Muscat was still an MP.

As if things weren’t suspicious enough, Muscat is currently under investigation for his involvement in a separate scandal concerning a €15,000 monthly consultancy contract with a Swiss company. It is suspected that this arrangement may have served as a conduit for kickbacks related to the controversial Vitals/Steward hospitals contract.

Consultancy agreements, as highlighted by the Financial Action Task Force, can often serve as a smokescreen, obscuring the true motives behind financial transactions.

Muscat, however, denies any wrongdoing, despite mounting evidence and the unsettling pattern that seems to be emerging.