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3 NEWS 18.5.2023 FROM PAGE 1 VGH was the company awarded a lucrative hospitals concession by the Maltese government in 2015. e deal was described by the Auditor General as pre-arranged and pointing towards collusion by the investors and government officials. "I do not fear arrest… this is a frame-up," Muscat insisted. He said all work he did for Accutor was documented and above board. He did not explain how the same company received funds from Steward Healthcare, the American company that bought the hospitals conces- sion when VGH went belly up. Muscat outrightly denied ever receiving money through corruption when asked point blank. Taking to Facebook, Muscat called the reports a "concerted attack" by the "usual suspects". "Always got paid for work I have carried out. I gave evi- dence of this to the Magistrate and I asked her various times to be able to testify. She has never replied to my requests," Muscat said. e former PM said there are "obvious leaks" from the work being done by the Magistrate. "e same had happened when there were people who were informed beforehand on what was going to happen, boasted publicly about that and even came on my doorstep to observe first hand. is be- trays any form of trust. ere are also other points which I will make in the right fora with the due respect for the insti- tutions," he said. "Contrary to others, I declare my income and pay my taxes." Muscat said he has already gone through the same situa- tion with the "Egrant" lie. "I will make sure that those who are manipulating facts are pursued through justice when time comes, and that truth prevails, even if I am alone in doing this," the post read. Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi feature in probe e police probe could spur high-profile arrests, although the Times of Malta reports that police commissioner An- gelo Gafá will hold out against carrying out arrests before the ongoing magisterial inquiry has been concluded. Apart from Muscat, his former chief of staff Keith Schembri is also being consid- ered a person of interest in the investigation. Steward Health Care maintains that Schembri directed Steward's takeover of Vitals, and presented e-mails as evidence of this. Schembri also reported- ly visited Accutor's offices in Switzerland while still serving in government. However, the probe has not found any direct payments from Accutor to Schembri. Meanwhile, former minis- ter Konrad Mizzi also had his home searched as part of the inquiry. Mizzi was responsible for overseeing the hospitals deal when he was health min- ister, and later tourism minis- ter. Opposition reacts In reaction to the story, Op- position leader Bernard Grech slammed Prime Minister Rob- ert abela for defending the hospitals' deal. "ese are clear and concrete facts. is is why we're certain that the Labour government is a corrupt government," he said. Grech also called for people to protest with the Nationalist Party in front of Parliament at 6pm on Wednesday. "You need to make your voice heard. is is your country too." FROM PAGE 1 Documents show that VGH transferred at least €21 million to its Maltese parent company Bluestone Investments between 2016 and 2018. A few of those transactions were carried out on the same day that VGH received payments from the Maltese government as part of hospitals concession deal. In 2022, VGH director Ram Tumuluri had told Times of Mal- ta that VGH and Bluestone were both operating under the same management structure and were together spending funds in rela- tion to the concession. "Bluestone had contracts relating to the same concession for which it had to fulfil its contractual obligations, hence the funds were moved as intra-company transfers," Tumuluri had said via his lawyer. In comments to OCCRP this week, Tumuluri said via a lawyer that Bluestone was financed by investors and shareholders, not the hospitals contract. "e funds used for that spending were not VGH funds," the law- yer said. Hotels, restaurants and private schools e investigation reveals that Bluestone's accounts were regularly used to pay for private spending. Transactions involved range from over €5 million being wired to accounts and companies linked to VGH 'consultant' Shaukat Ali and his family members, to over 150 ATM cash withdrawals amounting to €54,000. e financial documents that Bluestone also payed for private schools in Malta and Switzerland, veterinary fees, stays at a Hilton hotel in Montenegro and restaurant bills amounting to €1,000. Vitals and Bluestone were run by Tumuluri, with his backer Mark Pawley also acting as a director. OCCRP said Tumuluri claimed that he had a contract with Bluestone that included "the provision for personal expenses and school fees for my children". He reiterated that these payments came from "investor sources" and not public money. e investigation revealed that the people behind Vitals splashed a total of €248,000 at Kind's Auto Sales, the local agents for Mercedes Benz. e money was spent on leasing cars, including top-of-the-range models like the Mercedes S-class. An additional €180,000 were spent on point-of-sale purchases, including Netflix subscriptions, payments at beauty salons, cloth- ing shops and grocery purchases. e financial records also show cash withdrawals from ATMs in Balluta, Sliema's Dingli Street, and e Point shopping mall, and other cash withdrawals in Zurich, Switzerland, amounting to €54,000 between 2015 and 2017. 'I do not fear arrest, this is a frame-up' - Joseph Muscat Former Vitals Global Healthcare director Ram Tumuluri Joseph Muscat (right) with Steward Healthcare CEO Armin Ernst Keith Schembri (left) and Konrad MIzzi VGH director Ram Tumuluri says money used for spending were not VGH funds

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