Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523079
5 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 26 JUNE 2024 NEWS KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The sale had been declared fraudulent by the courts and struck down in 2023, Earlier this year, the conclusions of a mag- isterial inquiry that had been launched in 2019 following an application by Repubblika, had recommended that they be pros- ecuted. All of the defendants are plead- ing not guilty to the charges. Sciacca Grill, one of the compa- nies, was discharged although this does not preclude the possibility of further investigations leading to criminal charges in the future. According to prosecutor Franc- escao Refalo, Sciacca Grill – once owned by former chief of staff Keith Schembri – had received a number of contracts to supply an- other catering company that had been supplying the hospitals in the PPP. "We are saying that these companies were taking a percent- age of the money coming from the concession. They were skimming money off the concession," Refalo said. His argument was rebutted by Sciacca's defence lawyer Franco Debono. "God forbid we reduce prima facie to this methodology. I did not hear a single mention of a page number, or a piece of evi- dence. Is this the examination that must be carried out to establish prima facie?" Veronique Dalli, defence lawyer for Taumac – the company which had sold its shares in MTrace to the Vitals concession via Vitals Procurement Ltd in Jersey – sub- mitted to the magistrate that the prosecution's suspicion in her client was insufficiently based on one witness only. "Between April and today, someone had inves- tigated and decided there were sufficient grounds to press charg- es... The prosecution is saying that Taumac should have suspected that someone recommended by the Maltese state [was committing criminal offences]." Dalli said the court was right in saying that at this stage it was only empowered to establish whether there is a case to answer. "But is it not possible or probable for Tau- mac to sell its shares at no profit, so as not to lose its investment... is there anything extraordinary or out of the ordinary that a compa- ny tries to recoup its investment, especially when the government is telling it to leave the deal to be replaced by another company rec- ommended by the government?" Lawyer Chris Cilia, for MTrace, added that the inquiry experts who assisted the magisterial in- quiry "had arrived at a certain nar- rative", accusing them of 'creating' the storyline. "Completely gratuitous asser- tions which make no sense... and had they taken the initiative of hearing what Dr Josie Muscat had to say, they would have realised that this narrative is nothing but a fairytale," the lawyer said with re- spect to accusations levied against MTrace on its acquisition of a cy- clotron machine, through money loaned by VGH. The company was sold off to government investment arm Mal- ta Enterprise in 2020. Cilia queried where the crime of money laundering against MTrace arose from. "The con- clusion seems to be that from day one, VGH was the actual owner of MTrace and the cyclotron. This could have easily been dispelled had they sent for Josie Muscat. In four years, they had not and so this leads to some doubts taking root." Arthur Azzopardi took to task the way the inquiry experts had worded their suspicions on de- fendant Brian Bondin. "On Brian Bondin, there is no appendix in the inquiry. All that is mentioned in the conclusions, the experts on- ly say it is in the realm of possibili- ty... 'potential fraud.'" He derided the experts' stated definition of legal terms, such as fraud, as being 'Wikipedia'-type definitions. "The use of the word 'potential' with regards to MTrace, is always less than probable, which is required for prima facie... what the experts aren't doing is that, apart from the concession agree- ment itself, there is a number of other specific agreements." He attacked the expert's conten- tion that the government funds paid to the private concession companies, were somehow the State's. "When it was paid, it no longer remained public funds. The moment the money became theirs, it is theirs to decide how to use it." "I want to be clear. The problem is not the fault of the inquiring magistrate. The problem is how the experts worked it out and then reported to the magistrate." By way of example, Azzopar- di said that the experts claimed MTrace's expenditure was €1.2 million one year, the next €2.5 million, and then extrapolated a €600,000 sum for Brian Bondin. He said there was nothing else in the inquiry to buttress this argu- ment. "If what the experts are say- ing is true, the question arises as to why the person involved in the raising of fraudulent invoices, was not charged." Another defence lawyer, Jason Grima, made submissions on be- half of Crossbow audit employee, Jonathan Vella, who is also ac- cused of money laundering, fraud, and falsification of documents. "Who is this Jonathan Vella? He is a simple accounts clerk working for auditor Christopher Spiteri." Grima said Vella was merely a company secretary for the Vitals holding company Bluestone. "I don't think that merits him being charged... Vella did not choose to be a company secretary. His job is to do secretarial work and had done this job for decades, even with a previous employer." Grima also said the inquiring magistrate had not explained on what grounds he was being ac- cused. "Nobody sent for him. Not the police, not the magistrate and not the experts. So Jonathan Vella's testimony was not heard by anyone. It appears that they charged him without speaking to him first." Joseph Muscat faces charges of corruption, fraud, conspiracy and money laundering Prime Minister should terminate Joseph Muscat's privileges, PN says THE Prime Minister should termi- nate the State privileges granted to Joseph Muscat after the latter was formally indicted in the Vitals cor- ruption case, the PN said. Nationalist Party justice spokes- person Karol Aquilina said Robert Abela should take note of the devel- opments in today's sitting, whereby the court declared that there was enough prima facie evidence to in- dict Muscat, Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and several others. Aquilina said the Prime Minis- ter should withdraw the diplomat- ic passport granted to Muscat and terminate the agreement by which the former prime minister is using a public building in Sa Maison as his office. "No Prime Minister who respects his role and his country can treat someone like Joseph Muscat as a political friend. Robert Abela should treat Muscat for what he is: A person who stands accused in court with serious crimes such as corruption, money laundering, and conspiracy to set up a criminal organisation," Aquilina said. The PN spokesperson reiterated the party's trust in the judiciary. Karol Aquilina Joseph MUscat waving to supporters as he arrived at the law courts