From my article in The Sunday Times yesterday:
“In November 2021, Times of Malta reported that Muscat received fat payments from a Swiss company, which in turn received millions from Steward Healthcare when they acquired the hospitals with his blessing. You see, VGH could not sell on the hospitals without the government’s permission. Under normal circumstances, given that VGH had failed to deliver on any of its commitments, that permission would have been withheld. These were not normal circumstances. The discovery of the payments to Muscat explained why. Repubblika made sure the ongoing inquiry into corruption at the hospitals found out about Times of Malta’s reporting. The inquiry must have picked that up. In January 2022, Muscat’s house was searched by the police. A public power struggle ensued. Muscat addressed the nation over his mobile phone in selfie mode. His washroom urbi et orbi diatribes became legendary. He gave the speech from the scaffold of every corrupt politician in history to ever feel the heat of justice. Except that he spoke in Maltese, he could have been Manuel Noriega, Jacob Zuma, Ehud Olmert, Thaksin Shinawatra, Najib Razak, or any other of the eminent list of fallen crooks complaining of political persecution.”