While the individual at the centre of the medical visas scandal, Neville Gafà, has insisted with this newspaper that no Libyan national had ever been charged for visas to obtain medical treatment – not even the standard €66 visa fee – receipts made available to this newspaper purport to show payments of close to €35,000 made to Mr Gafà between the end of August 2015 and the beginning of October 2015.
A carbon copy book of hand-written receipts, which are alleged to have been issued by Libyan middleman Khaled Ben Nasan to Mr Gafà, was shown to this newspaper this week. The top of each hand-written receipt clearly indicates ‘To Neville’, and goes on to list the names of the ‘patients’, their Libyan identity card numbers and the total payments made from each batch of applicants.
In a right of reply to this newspaper, signed by Mr Gafà’s legal representative, former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit, Mr Gafà states, “I have never received any monies in any way or manner aside from my due government salary.”
In his right of reply, sent to this newspaper last Friday, Mr Gafà makes no reference to extracts of Viber conversation transcripts published by our sister daily newspaper two days earlier, on Wednesday.
Mr Gafà goes on to explain, “The persons concerned were not requested to pay anything, not even the 66 euro visa fee, which was waived by the Maltese government. Only accompanying family members were requested the visa fee. No fees or charges were levied by myself or the respective departments for the vetting of the persons concerned”.
The receipts, however, appear to show a different version of events. They show €34,575 in payments, some of which clearly indicate that the payments have been made in respect to medical visas. These particular receipts are dated to Konrad Mizzi’s tenure as Health Minister.
Prime Minister confirms he knew Libyan middleman
This newspaper also sought answers from the Prime Minister, former health minister Konrad Mizzi and current Health Minister Chris Fearne as to whether they had ever met Mr Ben Nasan or discussed the allegations with Mr Gafà.
From the replies supplied, it transpires that Dr Muscat had met the Libyan middleman during the Libyan revolution when he was still Opposition leader and on random occasions after he was elected Prime Minister, and he has never spoken to Mr Gafà about the case.
However, Mr Ben Nasan clearly states in his Viber messages to Mr Gafà that he is close to Joseph Muscat, to the point that he insists with Mr Gafà that their next meeting will take place in the Prime Minister’s Office if Mr Gafà fails to cough up the funds.
In his replies to The Malta Independent on Sunday the Prime Minister said that on becoming Prime Minister, he met with the same person as part of a wider outreach with foreign communities in Malta and during public events. The said person also insisted regularly on having further private meetings with the Prime Minister but these were refused after he did not meet the necessary clearance requirements.
Dr Mizzi, meanwhile, says he has never met the Libyan middleman and that he had referred allegations of impropriety to the Attorney General “for guidance”.
But for some strange reason the matter was not immediately referred to the police by then Health Minister Konrad Mizzi while Neville Gafa retained his office and position at the Health Ministry.
Mr Fearne, meanwhile, explains that he has never met Mr Ben Nasan and had been made aware of the accusations related to Mr Gafà a few days after becoming Health Minister, and gave immediate instructions to the Permanent Secretary to report the matter to the police.
He adds that Mr Gafà was transferred from his Health Ministry office and his involvement with medical visa issues was stopped. He explains that Mr Gafà denied the allegations and adds that, “In the event of a court arraignment by the police, Mr Gafà would have been suspended pending the court outcome.”
Libyan health minister denied visa for fact-checking mission
High-ranking sources from Libya speaking with this newspaper are not taking the matter lightly and they are concerned that it was not only genuinely injured Libyans who were always the recipients of the medical visas. Speaking with this newspaper earlier this week, they provided a letter sent to Mr Gafà last year requesting visas for a senior delegation from Libya to “follow up our patients and injured whom we sent to get medical treatments”.
They explain that the delegation, which included the then health minister and a ministry finance director, had wanted to look into what they considered to have been inflated fees charged for treatment and other related matters.
The visas, Libyan authorities allege, were denied after the delegation had been left waiting for days in Tunisia for visas and their flight to Malta. Those visas, however, allegedly never materialised.
Messages show middleman pleading for return of €38k in medical visa ‘fees’
This week, our sister daily newspaper was provided transcripts from Viber conversations between middleman Khaled Ben Nasan and Mr Gafà. They show how the former regularly hounded Mr Gafà for the funds to be returned to the applicants over the first three months of 2016.
In the transcripts, Mr Gafà never questions or denies Mr Ben Nasan's claims for reimbursement for the Libyan nationals who did not receive their visas, and instead acknowledges the fact but continually postpones various requested meetings.
The transcripts show Mr Ben Nasan had repeatedly pleaded for the return of the €38,000 in visa 'fees' since early January of this year, claims that are never denied by Mr Gafà.
According to the transcripts made available to this newspaper, at one point in late January Mr Ben Nasan is heard in a voice message to Mr Gafà pleading for the return of the missing fees, saying, “Please, please, please. All I need is the people's money back” – to which Mr Gafà replies in writing without disputing that people are owed any money, “We will meet tomorrow”.
That meeting never took place and subsequent messages become more and more insistent, and the transcripts show Mr Gafà making continual excuses.
“Good morning Neville, the people need their money and they can't wait any longer," reads one message from Mr Ben Nasan. "... I remind you that two weeks ago we met and you said you will solve the problem in a couple of days and you don't answer me when I call you... So the people give me problems... You took the money and I got the problems.”
Another reads, “I have a problem with these people and they will speak with the embassy and I think they will take action. It's no small amount, it's €37,800 and it's for people coming for medical cases. Try to give the money back or give a solution. The problem will grow – find out how to solve it till this coming Saturday... When I delayed your payment for one day you called me 100 times.”
Not once in the transcripts does Mr Gafà ask what Mr Ben Nasan is referring to, apparently well-familiar with the problem at hand.
In a statement this morning, the Office of the Prime Minister replied to the story that was published in The Malta Independent on Sunday
"The front page story on The Malta Independent on Sunday which claims that the Prime Minister knew of allegations with regards to an alleged visa scam is a blatant lie trying to maliciously mislead its readers.
"In this case, and whenever the Prime Minister recieved any allegations, he has always taken the appropriate action and passed any information to the relevant authorities. It is simply a vicious spin that in this case he acted differently.
"The journalist relies on a personal message of Ben Nasan to reach the wrong conclusion that this person is “close” to the Prime Minister and that he was going to meet in the PM’s office.
"This is nothing short of another deliberate blatant lie by the journalist as the Office of the Prime Minister said in its reply to The Malta Independent on Sunday that “the said person (Khaled Ben Nasan) also insisted regularly in getting further private meetings with the Prime Minister but these were refused after he did not pass the necessary clearances”.
Meanwhile Neville Gafa wrote to the paper.
Reference is made to the Malta Independent on Sunday front page story entitled "Receipts show €35,000 in payments made to Neville Gafa' by Libyan middleman".
It is now evident more than ever that the Malta Independent on Sunday is relying on very dubious sources whose intention is solely to mount a frame up on me, to hide their misdeeds.
From the outset I must declare that the first time I saw the purported receipts was during Police questioning. I was told that the receipts were given to them by Khaled Ibrahim Ben Nasan as proof that I owed him money.
I state what I already told the Police under investigation that I had never been shown or given any receipts. As already stated I have never received any monies, let alone being given receipts for them.
As already stated by the Police, I have been investigated, and no evidence of impropriety was found on my part.
This has clearly left these individuals disarmed with their only way remaining to sustain their lies is by passing them to the media in an exercise of conjecture.
I note with very deep regret that The Malta Independent on Sunday is playing along this one dubious source and once again did not have the basic decency to ask for my version of the story.
As I did I remain open further investigation and will cooperate as I did until now with all authorities to get to the bottom of this issue.
Tomorrow I will be filing a libel proceedings against this paper.
Neville Gafa'.