Malta’s former premier Joseph Muscat is to face charges of bribery, misappropriation and money laundering in connection with a €400-million ($430-million) deal to privatize three state hospitals, the public prosecutor's office has decided.
Muscat, who served as prime minister between 2013 and 2020, is the highest-profile figure among roughly two dozen to be prosecuted over the deal, according to documents from the office seen by dpa on Tuesday.
Others include his former chief of staff, two former health ministers, a former finance minister and top former civil servants.
Muscat and two of his closest allies, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi, are suspected of having taken bribes in connection with a 2017 deal to lease three state hospitals to a company with no track record in the health sector, Vitals Global Healthcare.
A civil court annulled that deal in 2023, saying Vitals and its successor, US-based health-care giant Steward, had not lived up to contractual obligations and that the deal was tainted by signs of fraud.
In parallel to that case, a magistrate investigated the role of Muscat and his ministers in the deal.
Media revelations showed that months after he resigned as prime minister, Muscat began to receive monthly payments of €15,000 from a company linked to Vitals and Steward. Muscat has said those payments were for consultancy work he did that was not related to the Maltese hospitals.
It remains unclear whether those suspicious payments are at the basis of the criminal charges filed against Muscat and others, as the inquiry and its contents remain secret.
Prosecutors filed criminal charges against Muscat and others on Monday, Prime Minister Robert Abela confirmed. On Tuesday, copies of those charges were leaked to local media.
Others to face criminal charges include lawyers, auditors, medical equipment suppliers and entrepreneurs close to Muscat.
If found guilty, Muscat and several of his closest allies face up to 18 years behind bars.
The 50-year-old said the inquiry is a “political vendetta.”
“Those who perpetuated this injustice and who did nothing to stop it will be judged harshly by the people and history,” he wrote on Monday.
On Tuesday, he said he looked forward to "destroying each and every one of these charges and proving how they are built on fantasy and lies."