Hillman, Sladden and Vassallo identified as 'brothers' in Maltese Freemasonry lodge

Three individuals have been identified as Freemasons and members of one of Malta's leading Masonic lodges as part of the hospitals' magisterial inquiry investigating the theft of millions of public funds.

The investigation notes that former Times of Malta chief executive Adrian Hillman, his business partner, entrepreneur Pierre Sladden, and Technoline owner Ivan Vassallo were all “brothers” in a secret Masonic lodge.

The investigation also identified attorney Larry Formosa of Gozitan Cosrya Legal as another Freemason. Formosa allegedly helped Ivan Vassallo of Technoline transfer his company's shares to Hillman and Sladden, the nominees of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.

According to the investigation, Vassallo held a leading role within the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Malta and served as its general secretary.

Research carried out by The Shift confirmed the trio's membership of Malta's oldest Freemason society, based at Marsamxett in Valletta. It is unclear whether Hillman, Sladden or Vassallo are still members of the company.

When The Shift contacted Simon Cusens, the Grand Master of the Masonic lodge, he could not confirm whether Hillman, Sladden and Vassallo had been expelled from the fraternity.

“As you know, one of our main principles is secrecy, and we cannot share this information with non-members,” he told The Shift.

“What I can tell you is that when I took office as Grand Master in 2019, which I take very seriously, Ivan Vassallo did not hold any leadership position in our Masonic lodge,” insisted Cusens.

Masons were dismayed by the findings of the investigation

Meanwhile, Cusens, whose family was the original owner of Technoline before it was sold to Vassallo and his “hidden partners” for €3 million, made it clear he was dismayed by what he had read in the investigation and by what had been said revealed so far.

“As a society, we had nothing to do with what happened. It’s disgusting,” he told The Shift. Cusens also referred to his name mentioned in the investigation as the original owner of Technoline.

“Ivan Vassallo was my employee at the time of the sale and I knew he could not afford to buy Technoline. However, during the negotiations, he never let slip who his real financiers were,” Cusens insisted.

“What I can say is that the sale of my family business to Gateway Ltd was completed after due diligence and at that time nothing of what we know today had emerged” , did he declare.

“I had also consulted a serious lawyer to make sure everything was above reproach, and I have all the documents to prove it,” Cusens said.

Technoline was purchased by Vassallo's Gateway in 2017 and passed on to Vitals Global Healthcare through a series of companies used as a front for money laundering.

While on paper, Ivan Vassallo appeared as the owner of Technoline, Sladden and Hillman were inserted as shareholders of other companies, including Gateway Solutions, to be able to buy Technoline.

The money – €5 million to buy the medical supplies company – came directly from the hospitals' concession, as Vitals Global Healthcare had no funds until it started receiving millions of the government.

Just after the Technoline takeover was completed, Vitals Global Healthcare signed an exclusive contract to make the private medical supplier its sole and exclusive medical equipment supplier for the hospital franchise, ensuring that millions would flow through this agreement.

Hillman and Sladden were the secret business partners of Keith Schembri, the alleged mastermind of the hospital robbery.