Joseph Muscat placed on Danish Village board of directors after GWU sell-out

Disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat has found a new means of bolstering his income, this time by having been appointed as the only Maltese director on the board that controls the Danish Village tourist complex in Mellieha.

The Shift is reliably informed that the appointment was made only a few days after the General Workers’ Union – a shareholder in the Mellieha-based tourist complex after it was acquired by the trade union during the Mintoff era – sold its holding to the mother company that controls the business – DFF Malta Holding Limited – a company owned by a Danish trade union foundation.

Muscat replaced former GWU secretary General Tony Zarb, who passed away earlier this year and union President Victor Carachi, who had been on the Danish Village board for several years.

It is not yet known what directorship fees Muscat will be earning for his new role or whether he will be doing extra consultancy work for the firm.

In April 2019, just a few months before he was forced out of office by his Cabinet colleagues, Muscat had presided over a ceremony at the Danish Village, now rebranded as the Mellieha Holiday Centre after a €9 million investment.

At the time, Muscat had showered praise on the complex’s shareholders, including the GWU, for having built some 30 new bungalows as part of their business expansion plans.

Since the complex is situated in an extremely sensitive ecological area, the owners had to wait years for their development application to be approved.

Submitted in 2009 by Architect Edwin Mintoff, the planned development was viewed sceptically because of the area in which it was proposed to be located.  However, following Muscat’s ascension to power, all was straightened out, and the PA issued its green light.

The Shift is also informed that last June, just a few days before the latest development, the disgraced former prime minister formed a new private company, called OJMed Ltd, with Muscat as the only shareholder and Labour lawyer Charlon Gouder as its secretary.

According to its memorandum of articles of association, Muscat will be using this company, based at his residence in Burmarrad, to provide consultancy and advisory services on economic policy, as well as to manage and administer properties of any kind irrespective of whether they belong to his company or others.

While Muscat has been out of power since the beginning of 2020, his name has been associated with consultancies for companies and ‘friends’ who had done business in Malta under his premiership.

One of the consultancies was related to Accutor AG, a Swiss firm run by lawyer Wasay Bhatti, which, incidentally, also dealt with the take-over of three public hospitals by the now defunct Vitals Global Healthcare during Muscat’s time.

It was reported that Muscat had been wired €60,000 from the Swiss company in January 2020, just a few weeks after he stepped down.

Last summer, Muscat was also controversially appointed as chairman of the Malta Professional Football Clubs Association, despite the opposition put up by many in the game. His biggest backer was Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli.

Most of these clubs are currently negotiating with the government on how they could commercialise their facilities.

Muscat’s appointment to the directorship at Mellieha Holiday Centre Ltd was filed by Ryan Muscat, Danish Village’s chief financial officer.