Court expert Sam Sittlington is asking to testify remotely in the Vitals case, as a court heard on Friday that he cannot appear in person.
The case against former Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, former Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, and others charged with "lesser crimes" connected to the hospital deal scandal continued with Magistrate Leonard Caruana presiding. During the hearing, experts presented invoices, bank statements, and court judgments.
Lead prosecutor Francesco Refalo informed the court that Sittlington, a forensic expert who worked on the Vitals inquiry, would not be available for in-person cross-examination. Instead, he requested to testify via video conferencing. The court acknowledged the request, and submissions on the matter will be made in writing.
Sittlington is among 26 forensic analysts and experts whose involvement is being contested by the defendants. He has faced pressure from the defence team, which accused him of leveraging his role as a court expert to secure a lucrative position as a police consultant.
The accused include former Health Minister Chris Fearne, Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna, and several others, including: Ronald Mizzi, 41, permanent secretary; Alfred Camilleri, 64, former permanent secretary; Joseph Rapa, 57, public official; Kenneth Deguara, 44, employee; Kevin Deguara, 47, lawyer; Jean Carl Farrugia, 48, lawyer; Deborah Anne Chappell, 37, lawyer; Bradley Gatt, 43, lawyer; Aron Mifsud Bonnici, 50, lawyer; James Camenzuli, 53, engineer; Manuel Castagna, 50, accountant; and Robert Borg, 50, auditor.
This group includes lawyers, civil servants, and members of the adjudication committee that awarded the lucrative contract to run three state hospitals—St Luke’s Hospital, Karin Grech Hospital, and Gozo General Hospital—to Vitals Global Healthcare in 2015. Steward Healthcare assumed control of the concession in 2018.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges including fraud, misappropriation, and fraudulent gain related to the hospital deal. Unlike the first group of individuals charged in connection with the scandal, this group does not face accusations of bribery or trading in influence.
Malta’s political sphere has been shaken since the conclusion of the Vitals inquiry in May, which led to charges against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his associates for more serious crimes.
During the session, financial controller Bernice Bugeja testified that she was tasked with examining box files of invoices. Her role involved identifying who was paid, how much, and for what, and whether payment criteria had been met. She noted that some invoices related to this case, while others pertained to unrelated magisterial inquiries. The court ruled that only relevant invoices be presented, while the others would undergo further analysis.
Deputy registrar Marbeck Spiteri submitted court judgments from a case filed by Adrian Delia against the government of Malta. These judgments led to the annulment of the hospital privatisation deal. An appeals court confirmed the annulment, citing "collusion between Steward and senior government officials or its agencies," in contrast to the initial judgment, which had attributed the fraud solely to Steward. Defence lawyers argued that these judgments were not admissible as evidence in this case.
Anthony Cachia, former director general of the Contracts Department, testified about a meeting on March 25, 2015, with permanent secretary Ronald Mizzi and representatives from Projects Malta to discuss the hospital concession's technicalities. He explained that Malta’s accession to the EU highlighted a lack of regulation for public service concessions, leading the country to introduce relevant laws in 2016.
During the 2015 meeting, Cachia and others determined that the hospital concession met the definition of a public service concession. Consequently, Projects Malta, rather than the Contracts Department, was tasked with managing the tender process.
The case will continue on January 17 and 21.