Updated 1.28pm with PL statement below.
Former Health Minister Chris Fearne has asked the police to investigate and prosecute those behind a "€6 million frame-up" against him.
In his first public reaction to revelations in Times of Malta, The Boston Globe and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the former deputy prime minister said the new evidence was irrefutable proof that as Malta’s health minister, he always stood his ministerial ground in the national interest.
Leaked corporate records obtained by the OCCRP and published on Monday showed that former hospital concessionaires Steward Health Care funded a campaign to smear Fearne with fake corruption claims.
The campaign was part of a wider €6.5 million secret operation authorised by Steward to target their perceived opponents in Malta and abroad.
Practices included using bank records, accessing sensitive phone data, and planting “fake” media stories about corruption among Maltese officials. The operations were coordinated by senior Steward officials who corresponded regularly with private spies at two London-based intelligence firms called Audere International and CT Group, according to emails, encrypted messages, and financial records.
Fearne said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that this showed how much filthy money was paid to politically eliminate him and get him out of the way.
"This malicious plan was done in two steps. First, they tried to find dirt, any dirt, to throw at me. When they failed because there wasn’t any, they just fabricated it. Quite simply, this was a pitch dark 6 million Euro frame up to try to block me from continuing to do my duty towards our patients, my ministry and my country."
Claims about Fearne and his top ministry official Carmen Ciantar first surfaced in foreign media in the summer of 2023. They alleged that the two received kickbacks on the sale of a passport to a wealthy foreign investor.
Both denied the story and reported the claims to the police. On Tuesday, Fearne recalled that the police at the time had quickly concluded that the story was fake.
However, police had been unable to determine where the claims originated from, he said.
Writing on Tuesday, he noted that media reports had now "clearly shown who the source of this deceit" was.
He asked the police commissioner to investigate the reports and file criminal proceedings against those responsible.
"Meanwhile I continue to defend and confirm my integrity in the Courts of Law," he wrote.
Fearne is also facing criminal charges in connection with the Vitals-Steward deal to privatise three state hospitals, which was annulled by a court last year.
He is pleading not guilty and is seeking to have those charges dismissed at the prima facie stage.
Labour expresses solidarity, accuses the PN
Meanwhile, the Labour Party on Tuesday expressed solidarity with Chris Fearne - its deputy leader - and said it was condemning the malicious attacks made against him while he worked in the national interest and on the side of the truth.
The PL said it had also noted the hypocrisy of the Opposition leader and of the Nationalist Party, saying they were now underlining Fearne's integrity while having been the same people who had instituted a court case against Fearne in his personal capacity.
The PL said it was committed to seeing that the truth was known and justice was served, and the government had already declared it would seek to recover any Steward funds used for any fake news stories.