Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1494707
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 MARCH 2023 Legal fall-out from hospitals swindle far from over MATTHEW AGIUS ALTHOUGH a judge has now rescinded the contract and an- cillary agreements between the Maltese government and Vitals Global Healthcare/Steward Healthcare, on the grounds of "fraudulent and possibly crim- inal" behaviour on the part of the commercial entities in- volved, there may well soon be more serious legal repercus- sions for the individuals who negotiated the Vitals/Steward hospitals privatisation deal. An ongoing magisterial in- quiry into allegations of cor- ruption being involved in the recently rescinded hospitals deal is believed to be nearing its final stages, raising the pros- pect of criminal charges, as well as a separate litigation on the part of Steward to extract a €100 million penalty in their favour. The magisterial inquiry start- ed in May 2019, after anti-cor- ruption NGO Repubblika filed an application requesting an inquiry into the privatisation of the three public hospitals, citing "reasonable suspicion of money laundering, bribery and other serious crimes." In that application, the NGO had also identified the individ- uals it suspected of being be- hind those crimes: now-former ministers Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona, Edward Scicluna as well as businessman Ivan Vas- sallo. This claim would appear to have been borne out by testi- mony heard during sittings in the ultimately successful civil case filed by former Opposition leader Adrian Delia, challeng- ing the emphyteutical conces- sion of the three State-owned hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare, and later Steward Healthcare. The judge hearing that case had heard witnesses from var- ious government bodies testify that nobody had carried out due diligence on the parties to the contract before it was signed, because it was "already a done deal decided by former minister Chris Cardona and [Vitals Global Healthcare's CEO at the time] Ram Tumu- luri." Following the application requesting the magisterial in- quiry, Repubblika's lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, had subse- quently filed a second applica- tion in 2019, alerting the court that the day after the NGO had formally requested the in- quiry, "Tumuluri placed nine of the previously hidden Jersey companies involved in the Vi- tals Global Healthcare (VGH) concession's web of offshore companies and contracts into liquidation." In requesting the inquiry, the Repubblika lawyer asked the inquiring magistrate to issue, amongst other things, an ur- gent European Investigative Order, so as to preserve the ev- idence and avoid the stultifica- tion of any eventual magisterial inquiry. EIOs are legal instruments meant to facilitate cross-bor- der evidence-gathering in criminal investigations. Once issued by a judicial authority in an EU member-state, the is- suing country is empowered to make use of evidence gathered during criminal investigations carried out in other EU mem- ber-states. EIOs are based on the prin- ciple of mutual recognition, which means that the execut- ing authority is, in principle, obliged to recognise and en- sure execution of the other country's request. It does not look like the EIO was issued, however. Four years on from the filing of Repubblika's request for the inquiry, the conclusion of this process is now understood to be close at hand, the likely time frame being described as "months." According to figures pub- lished this week by the Medical Association of Malta, the tax- payer forked out €390 million to Vitals Global Healthcare and then Steward Health Care under the now annulled con- cession, for the companies to run the hospitals and pay med- ical personnel previously under government employ. The rescission of the contract could be a first step towards re- covering the millions taken by the concessionaires if the gov- ernmnet files civil proceedings. But that is a matter compound- ed by one legal certainty: Stew- ard expect that it recoups a €100 million penalty inscribed in its favour by former minister Konrad Mizzi in the event that a Maltese law court actually rescinds its contract – a secret side-letter that seems to have predicted the outome in the Delia case. former prime minister, and who defends those who murdered Daphne Caruana Galizia." Greece came in last in Re- porters without Borders' last media freedom ranking with the government passing a law giving authorities the power to send people to jail for up to five years for spreading alleged "fake news" deemed "capable of causing concern or fear to the public or undermining pub- lic confidence in the national economy, the country's defence capacity or public health." The Greek sociallist opposi- tion, Pasok, has been energised by revelations that its leader's phone had been under surveil- lance by the state spy service. In what was described by press reports as an "organised sabotage", the Greek prime minister, the chief prosecutor, the secret services and police heads, and even the political- ly neutral Greek president all refused to meet with LIBE EU lawmakers. The announced reason was the busy schedule following the train crash tragedy, which cost the lives of at least 57 people. The LIBE committee in Ath- ens met with several stakehold- ers representing civil society, the head of Greece's privacy watchdog Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), regarding the wiretapping scandal and former anti-corruption chief Eleni Touloupaki. On Wednesday, a press con- ference led by Renew Europe MEP Sophie in 't Veld was scheduled to present the results of the mission. But it had to be re-scheduled as the Greek gov- ernment decided to hold anoth- er press conference regarding the train tragedy almost at the same time.