Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1521306
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MAY 2024 VITALS INQUIRY lot: Armin Ernst under VGH, Ernst's involve- ment "appears to have been nothing more than a well-cho- sen figurehead, who provided a necessary veneer of profes- sionalism for those seeking to exploit the concession". At VGH Ernst was paid an annual salary of €400,000 with discretionary company bonus- es ranging from €100,00 to €200,000 annually. 'A kindred spirit' Ernst resigned from VGH on 31 August 2017, listing a series of concerns he had about the concession's progress. A cou- ple of weeks later, Ernst was communicating privately with Keith Schembri over a possible takeover of the concession by Steward Health Care. Schembri and Joseph Mus- cat travelled to New York in September to attend the UN General Assembly. It was an occasion for Schembri to meet Ernst and discuss the conces- sion takeover by Steward. In an email, he sent Schembri from his gmail account after the meeting, Ernst described the Maltese government offi- cial as "a kindred spirit". In the following months, Ernst was in constant communication with Schembri to iron out issues that were arising from VGH investors who were reluctant to sell off their shareholding. In December 2017, Ernst emailed Schembri about at- tempts by then VGH chief Ram Tumuluri to salvage the VGH concession by roping in Part- ners Healthcare International and in the process disrupting the transfer to Steward. In his email, Ernst told Schembri of allegations that Konrad Mizzi was also supporting Tumuluri in these attempts. The former OPM chief of staff appears to have handled the matter suc- cessfully. A month earlier, Schembri sought Ali's help to dig up dirt on Tumuluri and how he misappropriated public funds meant for VGH. The eventual report, which included several allegations of a criminal nature was only meant to be used as leverage over Tumuluri to convince him to acquiesce to the share transfer. In February 2018, Ernst was appointed Steward CEO in Malta after the share transfer deal was concluded.