The National Audit Office said today that efforts to contact former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri had proven unsuccessful.

In a statement on Tuesday, Schembri said that he received a letter from the NAO on 27 July that stipulated that he needed to provide answers to questions by 24 July, "three days before the letter arrived." 

In a statement today, the NAO said it made various attempts to contact Mr Schembri by telephone as soon as his involvement in the MoU related to the deal on the transfer of three public hospitals to the Vitals group was brought to the attention of this Office.

“This Office also sought to obtain the email address of Mr Schembri; however, enquiries were unsuccessful,” the NAO said.

Thus, the NAO delivered a letter by hand to Mr Schembri’s residence on 21 July 2020. In addition, the same letter was sent by registered post on 22 July 2020.

In a court sitting, Schembri had said that he had lost his mobile phone.