The revelation that millions were spent to smear Chris Fearne’s reputation sparked another political earthquake.
While many will dismiss it as ‘yet another scandal’ linked to the Labour administration, in reality, it is a stark testament to the depths our country has sunk.
Records obtained by OCCRP and shared with Times of Malta and the Boston Globe expose a disturbing campaign to smear the former health minister with fabricated claims. Investigations show that Steward Health Care, the company managing Malta’s public hospitals, funded this underhanded scheme.
The tactics employed were insidious, including using bank records, accessing sensitive phone data, and planting fake media stories about corruption among Maltese officials. To add insult to injury, many of the costs linked with this disgraceful act were billed back to taxpayer-funded hospitals in Malta.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow, knowing that the promised millions of euros for health services were instead lining the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.
The intentions behind this smear campaign transcend mere vengeance. It appears to have been a plan to eliminate an opponent and potentially influence the courts and sway public opinion.
The story is quite unprecedented which makes it even more important to know who stood to benefit from this slimy campaign.
Was it Steward Health Care alone or certain politicians and their allies?
While Fearne and his former CEO Carmen Ciantar have every reason to find the revelations disturbing, (especially since Fearne ended up being charged in court), the Maltese taxpayer and thousands of patients who saw the promised millions of euros in health redirected into the pockets of crooks needs answers.
The VGH/Steward hospitals deal was annulled by a civil court on fraud grounds last year but it will take years to cure the damage imposed to our health sector.
The case has rightfully ended up in court and we can only hope that the prosecution has built a strong case to bring the real perpetrators to justice, not the ones who were merely caught in the crossfire.
The case has rightfully ended up in court and we can only hope that the prosecution has built a strong case to bring the real perpetrators to justice, not the ones who were merely caught in the crossfire
A delicate political game is also being played. The Labour Party and its media has jumped on the bandwagon to stick up for Fearne, even dishonestly giving the impression that the big hospitals’ deal and the manoeuvres were all happening behind Labour’s back.
Do not be fooled – this sleaze was engineered squarely by the Labour government under the leadership of Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.
Whenever journalists or the opposition questioned the deal, Labour MPs purely parroted the government line. And they still do.
There are too many suspicions and unanswered questions still swirling around this corrupt deal. For example, despite being stripped of his health portfolio due to the 2016 Panama Papers scandal, why did Muscat keep Mizzi in overall control of the hospitals contract and project?
An investigation by the Auditor General found Schembri and ex-health minister Konrad Mizzi frequently dealt with Steward behind Fearne’s back. Why?
We need to know why the police closed off the smear investigation last year and exonerated Fearne, without bothering to establish who was behind the fake claims.
It is about time the Maltese police sink their teeth into this case and show they are not just basing prosecution on the inquiring magistrate’s investigations.
Investigative journalists once again did the police’s job – and that is not reassuring for taxpayers who legitimately want to know the full story.
Labour will once again try to rewrite history and portray some rich, faceless foreigners as the real villains.
In reality, the Labour government owes the country an apology, it needs to disown Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi, see how they will start recouping some of the millions stolen and start investing in an ailing health sector.