Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523510
5 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 3 JULY 2024 NEWS Cabinet reiterates faith in Chris Fearne, blasts PN for partisan stance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "Around €6,500,000 were spent to fabricate a story with a single malign pur- pose: to politically eliminate me. This is how much filthy money was paid to try to get Chris Fearne out of the way," he said. He said the company first tried to find dirt on him, and when they failed to find any- thing, they chose to fabricate a story. "Quite simply, this was a pitch dark €6 million frame up to try to block me from continuing to do my duty to- wards our patients, my min- istry and my country." "When this fabricated story was first published, I had im- mediately gone to the Police Commissioner asking him to investigate. Not surprising- ly, it did not take him long to conclude that the story was all fake. Today I shall be going to the Police Commis- sioner once again, this time to ask him to act against who financed and who committed this heinous frame up." According to documents obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Re- porting Project (OCCRP), and shared with Times of Malta and the Boston Globe, Steward clashed with the Maltese health minister over the terms of its agreement to manage several hospitals in Malta. In response, Steward enlist- ed CT Group, a London-based private intelligence firm, to create a damaging report ac- cusing the health minister of accepting a substantial bribe. This report was subsequently circulated among journalists, aiming to discredit the min- ister. These bribery claims start- ed to appear in several Paki- stani news portals, and even- tually made their way to a Brussels-based and a Ukrain- ian news outlet. The claims alleged that Fearne's chief of staff, Car- men Ciantar, received thou- sands in payments from a company linked to Vitals Global Healthcare. Media reports 'irrefutable proof' he always safeguarded national interest, Fearne says Chris Fearne walking to court to face criminal charges over the Vitals corruption case. Fearne resigned from Cabinet but remained PL deputy leader (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) CABINET has issued a statement in re- sponse to reports that concession funds were used by Steward to hire private intelligence firms to target key opponents and critics, in- cluding Health Minister Chris Fearne. The statement made almost identical points as Prime Minister Robert Abela when he was doorstepped outside Parliament on Monday. The statement noted that Abela had al- ways supported Fearne, so much so that he had asked Fearne to reconsider his resigna- tion last May. Cabinet noted that the police had already found that articles about Fearne originating from questionable news outlets had already been disproven. Cabinet voiced its support towards Abela's statements to the media on Monday, where he called for an investiga- tion on the false articles. The statement noted that the State Advo- cate has now been asked to, "take all the nec- essary steps in the international arbitration," to see that any concession funds used in the smear campaign refunded by Steward. Cabinet reminded that the PN had opened a court case against the State Advocate, "which as a consequence of its requests, among others, is that Chris Fearne is per- sonally charged." The statement concluded with a remind- er that the Opposition, "was always ready to destroy" Fearne, particularly when his nomination as EU Commissioner was an- nounced. Cabinet stated that the PN was only ever interested in immediate political gains, as they reiterated their faith in Chris Fearne. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Cabinet backs Robert Abela's call for an investigation on the false articles reportedly peddled by Steward