VGH ‘lobbyist’ ousted from Identity Malta… Marlene Mizzi takes his place

Prime Minister Robert Abela has removed Mario Galea from Identity Malta’s chairmanship and appointed former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi in his stead.

Abela’s move came soon after the publication of the VGH/Steward inquiry, in which Galea was identified as the main lobbyist for the Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) shareholders to sign a fraudulent deal to take over Malta’s three public hospitals.

Despite Galea not being among those arraigned in court, his name is often mentioned as the middleman between the original VGH shareholders and the Muscat administration, particularly with disgraced former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.

Galea was initially outed by an NAO investigation, which found that he had coordinated the negotiations and eventual signing of a ‘secret’ Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between VGH and Malta Enterprise even before the publication of the tender to concede the hospitals to foreign shareholders at the time unknown to the Maltese public.

In an embarrassing episode, the memorandum signed by Galea and then Economy Minister Chris Cardona had been ‘lost’, and the NAO was not given a copy of what was agreed.

Galea’s successor, former OPM head of communications Kurt Farrugia, had publicly said that Malta Enterprise did not possess the MOU. Mario Galea later found it inside his office left in a drawer.

At the time of the negotiations and signing of the ‘secret’ memorandum, Mario Galea was Malta’s Enterprise’s Principal Chief Officer.

Soon after the memorandum was signed, Muscat’s administration promoted Galea to the post of Chief Executive of Malta Enterprise.

Galea’s replacement as Chairman of Identity Malta is Marlene Mizzi, whose three-year chairmanship of Malita Investments plc – a government financial vehicle used to finance social housing projects – ended after clashing with Minister Roderick Galdes.

Although she vehemently denied any involvement in transferring some 99 Siggiewi voters’ identity cards, which was intended to skew the eventual result of the Siggiewi local council elections, Mizzi publicly lambasted Minister Galdes for her removal.

A few days later, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri appointed her the new Chairman of Identita’.

The 69-year-old former Labour MEP is also a government director on the board of the new national airline – KM Malta.

Her husband, retired Judge Antonio Mizzi, serves on several government-appointed boards, including Chairman of the Sports Integrity Authority and the Law Commission.