Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523590
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JULY 2024 PL denies using Cosby's services Meanwhile, the Labour Par- ty denied using the services of Crosby and CT Group for its electoral campaigns. "The Labour Party did not use the services of the indi- vidual [Crosby] and company [CT Group] for electoral cam- paigns. Partit Laburista has no commercial relationship with the mentioned parties," a spokesperson replied to ques- tions by MaltaToday. Steward Health Care took over the contract to renovate and manage three of Malta's public hospitals in 2018 from Vitals Healthcare. Howev- er, payments to the company were held up after then-health minister Chris Fearne ques- tioned whether it was provid- ing all the medical services it was contracted to deliver. Steward paid millions to intelligence firms An OCCRP investigation last week revealed that private intelligence firms hired by Steward orchestrated a smear campaign against Fearne. One of those firms, Crosby's CT Group, produced a report falsely accusing Fearne of tak- ing a bribe, which was later sent to journalists. The stories first surfaced in obscure Paki- stani and Ukrainian websites. Steward averaged payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars each month to Lon- don-based intelligence firms Audere International and CT Group, and then charged the fees back to its Malta division, which was largely funded by Maltese taxpayers under the hospital deal. The companies involved have denied wrongdoing. The hospitals saga goes all the way to 2015, when the Maltese government granted a concession for the opera- tion of three hospitals – Gozo General, St Luke's and Karin Grech – to Vitals Global Healthcare. The concession had been ne- gotiated by Konrad Mizzi, who was health minister at the time. Less than two years after the concession was granted, Vi- tals sold it to Steward together with €55 million in debts, for the nominal price of €1. In August 2019, Mizzi signed off on a side agreement with Steward, which obliged the gov- ernment to pay the company €100 million if the contract was struck down by the court. Cab- inet was unaware of this secret arrangement, which was also annulled by the court when it cancelled the deal last year fol- lowing a civil suit filed by Na- tionalist MP Adrian Delia. In May this year, after a magiste- rial inquiry, several individuals and companies were charged with corruption over the hospi- tals deal, including senior Stew- ard and Vitals officials. Muscat, his then chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi have been charged with corruption, fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to form a criminal organisation. Fearne and for- mer finance minister Edward Scicluna were also charged with fraudulent gain. All individuals have pleaded not guilty and the cases against them are ongoing. company that fabricated Fearne bribery story Joseph Muscat (far left) did not delve into the nature of his relationship with Lynton Crosby (left), the individual who ran the intelligence company contracted by Steward that fabricated the bribery story on Chris Fearne, seen above on the left with Steward CEO Armin Ernst