Top civil servant facing fraud charges coordinating OPM’s Valletta ‘propaganda cube’

A senior civil servant currently facing criminal charges of fraud and misappropriation of public funds has been entrusted with coordinating the Office of the Prime Minister’s controversial Valletta “propaganda cube” project.

Sources at the Office of the Prime Minister confirmed that Ronald Mizzi, charged in connection with the Vitals/Steward hospitals scandal, has been placed in charge of the so-called Malta Vision 2050 pavilion being erected at City Gate.

The project involves the procurement of hundreds of thousands of euros in goods and services and is being financed through a €4.5 million OPM budget line.

Mizzi, currently serving as a permanent secretary at the OPM despite ongoing criminal proceedings, confirmed to The Shift that the pavilion falls within his brief as head of a newly created unit within the Prime Minister’s office.

However, he declined to provide details about the procurement process linked to the project, including which tenders have been issued, who is benefiting from direct orders, and how contracts were awarded.

He described the structure as part of a government marketing exercise.

When asked whether he maintains close personal relationships with any of the contractors involved, Mizzi did not reply.

Sources familiar with the project said several contractors engaged on the installation are the same service providers regularly used by the Labour Party during electoral campaigns. According to insiders, the Valletta structure forms part of a broader communications strategy in the run-up to the next general election.

Originally from Żabbar, Ronald Mizzi was headhunted in 2014 by then minister Konrad Mizzi to serve as permanent secretary at just 32 years of age.

He went on to play a central administrative role during the disgraced Joseph Muscat administration, including in major government projects such as the hospitals concession to Vitals and Steward, the sale of the ITS site, and the gas-fired power station deal.

His name has featured prominently in several investigations by the National Audit Office (NAO), particularly concerning the hospitals concession.

Following Konrad Mizzi’s resignation in 2019 and a change in Labour leadership, Prime Minister Robert Abela reconfirmed Ronald Mizzi as permanent secretary within the Tourism Ministry.

After the 2022 general election, Mizzi was transferred to serve as permanent secretary within the Lands Ministry.

In 2024, he was arraigned in court and charged with a raft of criminal offences, including fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

Although he resigned from the formal title of permanent secretary, he retained his government position and full financial package and was not suspended from duty.

Last year, Robert Abela reinstated him as permanent secretary within the OPM while criminal proceedings remain ongoing and a jury trial is still pending.

The Shift has previously reported that while Mizzi was serving as chairman of a government company, his partner, Fiona Brinkworth, was appointed as a director of one of the same company’s subsidiaries.

The couple also own and operate a boutique hotel in Gozo.