Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat brushed off concerns over the involvement of Steward Health Care in the now annulled hospitals concession as “bull” when speaking to an envoy over WhatsApp, according to a report.
Lovin Malta reproduced screenshots of a WhatsApp exchange between Muscat and Joseph Dalli, who served as Malta’s commercial representative to the US and Canada between 2014 and the start of 2017.
The messages are dated from December 2017, when it was revealed that Steward was going to be taking over the hospitals concession from the initial concessionaires Vitals Global Healthcare.
In the message, Dalli writes to Muscat telling him to be “careful with the vitalis [sic] deal. Don’t tie yourself to it.”
Muscat said he was not in the mood to talk and asked Dalli to message him the following day, which he did.
“I’m concerned about the Cerberus deal,” Dalli messaged the following morning, a reference to the private equity which had owned Steward at the time.
“Why in one sentence?”, Muscat responded.
“Cerberus has a history and also current grey standings on several dealings. I believe this can be easily used against us,” Dalli said.
“Not concerned, anything else?” Muscat said a minute later.
“One of their owners Ezra (J. Ezra Merkin) was even involved with Madoff,” Dalli said, a reference to the convicted Ponzi scheme operator Bernie Madoff. “They’re holding back financials with the state of Massachusetts,” Dalli wrote.
“Not of any concern. Steward is very solid. Anything else?” Muscat asked.
“And they’re being investigated for paying off government officials,” he added.
Muscat it appears did not take kindly to the messages.
“It’s bull, Ġuż,” Muscat wrote back to him. “Listen, let me tell you something. I have not appreciated your attitude as of late. Very condescending. I respect you but please stop. Now I need to get back to my family. Good day.”
Dalli however pushed back, saying he did not understand how he was being condescending.
“You know what I mean,” Muscat replied. “From giving ‘advice’ to everything else, including trying to bring our name in to get an anti-Clinton article. Now please stop and don’t take too much offence. If you were anyone else I would ignore you.”
“I said what I had to say. I’m sure you aren’t stupid. Now I’m off. Good day. By the way Steward went through enhanced due diligence and were pushed by the US government. See you,” Muscat wrote.
Dalli told Lovin Malta that it was not true that the US government was pushing for Steward to take over the concession.
“US interests aren’t necessarily your interests Prim. I wanted to give you a heads-up so we don’t get bamboozled again. I think it will help too if you demand that they are open about the deal. If we do so after it comes into question due to their past, it will be too late,” Dalli wrote back.
Muscat however was in no mood to listen to anymore: “Good day, we are covered,” he wrote.
Dalli, who appears to have provided the screenshots of the chat to Lovin Malta himself, told the news website that he had first spoken to Muscat in 2008 and joined his team back then, before volunteering for the PL during the 2013 electoral campaign.
He was appointed as Malta Enterprise’s commercial representative to the US and Canada in 2014, a post he left in 2017 for a post with the US government after Donald Trump was elected as President.
Lovin Malta said that Muscat declined to comment on the story.