The names of the government officials who signed the a Memorandum of Understanding with Vitals Global Healthcare remain a mystery, with the government failing to answer questions on the document described by the NAO as proof of collusion.
The Auditor General had drawn up a report about the concession given to Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) regarding three of Malta's hospitals - Karin Grech, St Luke's and the Gozo General Hospital. The NAO came to know of a Memorandum of Understanding, signed prior to the Request for Proposals that was issued for the hospitals deal.
It said the agreement showed that there was collusion between representatives of the Maltese government and VGH, and the company should have been disqualified from the RfP process.
The Auditor General had asked for the MoU to be handed but was told that it could not be found.
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and former health minister Konrad Mizzi both said they were unaware of the MoU.
When the NAO report was published, Prime Minister Robert Abela ordered that the MoU be found. Eventually it was, and the documents were handed over to the NAO.
This newsroom previously asked the Office of the Prime Minister whether the MoU agreement will be published, however the response received was that the document is in the hands of the Auditor General.
Politician Arnold Cassola had sent a request to the National Audit Office to publish the MoU, however his request was denied. "We would like to inform you that it is neither ethical nor appropriate for the NAO to publish a document passed on to us and that is being used for our work and our reportage on the case," the NAO told the politician.
The Malta Independent sent a number of questions last Thursday to the Office of The Prime Minister, asking again whether the government will publish the MoU, to confirm that neither Joseph Muscat nor Konrad Mizzi signed the document, and to state who signed the MoU.
By the time this newspaper went to print, no response was received, despite reminders having been sent.