Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523510
3 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 3 JULY 2024 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Former permanent secretaries Alfred Camilleri and Joseph Rapa, current permanent secretary Ron- ald Mizzi, adjudication commit- tee members James Camenzuli, Manuel Castagna, and Robert Borg, financial controller Kenneth Deguara, and five lawyers: Kevin Deguara, Jean Carl Farrugia, Aron Mifsud Bonnici, Deborah Anne Chappell, and Bradley Gatt are facing charges alongside Fearne and Scicluna. The 15 defendants are charged with fraud, with Fearne and Sci- cluna being additionally accused of misappropriation and making fraudulent gain by abusing their position. Money laundering is also amongst the charges facing other defendants. From the witness stand, Audi- tor General Charles Deguara was asked about concerns highlighted in his report about the adjudica- tion of VGH's bid and the conces- sion's subsequent transfer to Stew- ard Healthcare. Deguara said that his office had produced three extensive reports, 1100 pages long in total. These reports scrutinised the entire ten- dering process from its initiation to its final transfer to Steward. The primary focus was on good gov- ernance, evaluating whether re- sources were utilised appropriately and procedures followed, he said. Despite suggestions from defence lawyers, Deguara maintained that the investigation was thorough and evidence-based. During his testimony, Deguara highlighted that a memorandum of understanding was already in place before the formal requests for proposals (RFP) were even is- sued, a procedural foul that was documented in the reports. He confirmed that the evaluation had been managed by Projects Malta, while the Tourism Ministry han- dled negotiations and contracts. The tender was issued five months after it was already awarded, a fact Deguara had informed then Econ- omy Minister, Chris Cardona, about. Deguara identified the Tour- ism Ministry, at the time under then-minister Konrad Mizzi, had played a crucial role, and described Mizzi "the driver behind the initi- ative, pushing for the concession." The RFP was developed by Gana- do Advocates, with Deguara not- ing that it was unclear who provid- ed them with information. Company confusion A former Police Sergeant gave evidence about a search he assist- ed with, conducted at Kevin De- guara's residence in September 2021, under the instruction of In- spector Anthony Xerri. On the witness stand, the officer acknowledged that although the search was linked to DF Consul- tancy Services Limited, at the time he had not made a distinction be- tween DF Consultancy Services and DF Advocates. Debate over restrictions on movement and freezing orders The defence raised concerns about travel restrictions and once again insisted on justification for the multi-million euro freezing orders imposed on the defendants. Lawyer Franco Debono also ar- gued that the defendants, who had cooperated and had not interfered with the investigation, should not face restrictions on their move- ments. Prosecutor Francesco Re- falo clarified that the prosecution was not seeking curfews or travel restrictions but merely notifica- tion of movements. Upcoming court dates and further testimonies The court scheduled the next sit- tings for July 8, 10, 11, and 16, with ten witnesses set to testify at each session. The court aims to make a decree on prima facie by July 24. Among those set to testify are edi- tors from major local newspapers, officials from various departments, and legal experts. Freezing order arguments The court heard defence lawyers stress that the prosecution's reli- ance on reports and expert find- ings did not meet the necessary legal standards to justify the im- position of freezing orders of such magnitude. Debate about restrictions on public statements The defence strongly opposed the prosecution's request to re- strict the defendants from mak- ing public statements about the case, arguing it would unfairly prevent them from rebutting in- correct assertions, while others could freely allege whatever they wanted. The lawyers stressed the importance of allowing defend- ants to defend themselves public- ly, in view of the extensive media coverage and public interest in the case. The lawyers contended that the prosecution's request amounted to a gagging order, preventing the defendants from responding to public accusations and insults. The lawyers insisted prohibiting the defendants from making pub- lic statements about the case "is a gagging order." He asked, especially in the light of yesterday's news about Stew- ard Healthcare's smear campaign against Fearne, what good could be achieved by preventing the de- fendants from speaking about the case in public. Earlier on Tuesday, police in- spector Wayne Rodney Borg had, in fact, testified about this point, telling the court that lifting the ban posed no danger to the case. De Marco pointed to "the peo- ple out there who were insulting the defendants, their lawyers and everyone." "I worry when you have a prose- cutor not asking that those people be censured, that their incorrect statements be prevented. That is what could lead to a breach of the right to a fair hearing." The prosecution was trying to gag the defendants and their lawyers, charged De Marco. "It is incorrect, disloyal and very unfair,."she said, adding that Eu- ropean court judgments had es- tablished a requirement of a legit- imate aim based on evidence in order for a court to uphold such requests.. Debono added that the prohi- bition was "almost an incentive" to those who wanted to abuse the fact that the defendants cannot reply. After hearing the lawyers' sub- missions, the magistrate an- nounced that he would be issuing a decree on the requests from his chambers. The proceedings are set to con- tinue with more testimonies and legal arguments in the coming weeks. THE magistrate presiding the compilation of evidence against Shaukat Asad Ali has ruled that there is sufficient evidence to com- mit him to trial on indictment. Shaukat Asad Ali stands charged with money laundering, fraud and organised crime. He was hit with a multimillion euro seizure and freezing order. The defendant is the son of the Pakistani businessman at the cen- tre of the Vitals Global Healthcare scandal, Shaukat Ali Chaudhry. Magistrate Leonard Caruana handed down two decrees in a brief sitting Tuesday morning, the first rejecting the defence's request that the court withdraw an order that prohibited Ali from making pub- lic statements about the ongoing criminal proceedings against him. The court's second decree was to declare that there is sufficient pri- ma facie evidence to merit indict- ment. The case continues on August 7. Prosecutors Francesco Refalo, Shelby Aquilina and Rebekah Spi- teri are representing the office of the Attorney General, assisting police superintendent Hubert Cini and Inspector Wayne Rodney Borg. Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi and Jessica Formosa are defence coun- sel. Shaukat Asad Ali can stand trial, magistrate rules Shaukat Asad Ali (right) walking into court in Valletta (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) Auditor General testifies in Vitals hospitals deal corruption case