The Swiss firm that paid consultancy fees to Joseph Muscat received payments on behalf of Vitals Global Healthcare from the hospitals’ takeover deal, Steward Healthcare Malta has confirmed.

Accutor AG was “nominated” by the VGH shareholders as the place to send the “payment considerations” due to them, a Steward spokesperson said in reply to questions.

Times of Malta reported in November how Steward Healthcare paid millions to Accutor AG around the time it finalised its buyout of VGH in 2018. 

This is the first time, however, that Steward has broken its silence about its Accutor payments, confirming they were linked to the deal by which it took over the running of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals from VGH.   

The American company had previously ignored several rounds of questions sent to it before November by Times of Malta about the millions that passed between it and Accutor AG. 

Muscat’s home was searched last month in connection with €60,000 worth of payments he received in 2020 from two Swiss firms run by Accutor AG owner Wasay Bhatti, who insists the Steward and Muscat payments are unrelated. Muscat too denies wrongdoing.

Apart from Muscat, former VGH director Ram Tumuluri, VGH shareholder Shaukat Ali as well as his son Asad all received payments from Accutor AG in 2018. 

The spokesperson said Steward Healthcare Malta is not responsible for any subsequent activity undertaken “by or through Accutor”, and the payments sent from its end were not intended for Muscat.  

Former Accutor AG partners Kamal Sharma and Tyrone Greenshields have raised several red flags about Wasay Bhatti’s activities, and in November expressed a willingness to cooperate with any interested authorities. 

‘Funds transferred in good faith’ 

The spokesperson said that after conducting appropriate due diligence on Accutor, and to proceed with the acquisition deal, Steward Healthcare Malta “transferred funds in good faith to Accutor in March 2018”.   

The American company insisted its involvement in securing the hospitals concession was conducted in a “fully transparent and legal manner in accordance with all relevant laws, with advice from respected international law firm McDermott Will & Emery”.  

At no point has Steward Healthcare Malta had any “inappropriate relationships before or since completion of the acquisition”, the spokesperson said.  

The spokesperson said Steward Healthcare Malta is not responsible for any subsequent activity undertaken “by or through Accutor”.  

According to the spokesperson, “several inaccurate claims” have been made in the media with regard to the nature of Steward Healthcare Malta’s interactions with Accutor AG, and on other issues relating to the transaction.  

The first two payments came from Accutor, while the other two came from Spring X Media

“These false claims are based on uninformed conjecture, some made for political reasons, resulting in damage to Steward Healthcare Malta’s standing.” 

The spokesperson did not elaborate on what the “inaccurate claims” are.  

Muscat has strongly denied that the €60,000 in Accutor-linked payments, which halted abruptly in the summer of 2020, were in any way connected to corruption in the VGH hospitals deal.  

Just two months after resigning as prime minister, Muscat received the first of four €15,000 payments spread over four months. The first two payments came from Accutor, while the other two came from Spring X Media, another Swiss firm run by Bhatti.

The former prime minister insists the consultancy payments, which stem from a contract signed with Spring X Media, were for work he did and of which “there is ample evidence and also witnesses”.  

Muscat handed police a pre-prepared file justifying the payments during a search of his Burmarrad home, having been tipped off about plans for the search.  

‘Additional payments’ for payroll purposes 

Steward Healthcare Malta said it made subsequent payments to Accutor for a “limited period” to access salary- payments systems operated through one of Accutor’s subsidiaries, which specialised in payroll services.  

“This contract with Accutor was terminated once Steward Healthcare Malta was able to operate its payroll. There is no connection between any of these payments and Joseph Muscat,” the spokesperson said.  

‘Hidden liabilities’ 

Steward Healthcare Malta insisted it has continued to invest “millions” in Malta’s healthcare capacity, despite the “unbankable” terms of the concession.  

The spokesperson said the hospitals operators have been “forced to tackle hidden liabilities” inherited from VGH that had not been noticed by the Maltese authorities, including a “surprise” VAT liability that Steward reported after an audit of the management accounts, and which is now being “unfairly ascribed to us”.  

“We continue to invest heavily in our health care facilities while ensuring that our financial losses do not undermine our mission of better health care for Malta and its people,” the spokesperson said.  

VGH’s CEO Armin Ernst transitioned to Steward Healthcare when the buyout deal was still being hammered out between the two companies in 2017. 

Steward Malta’s statement in full

While we do not in general comment on business transactions between private entities, the accusations surrounding our relationship with Accutor AG are so egregious that we want to answer them directly with facts.

When SHCM took over the concession from Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), Swiss professional services firm Accutor AG was nominated by the relevant selling counterparties as the chosen destination for the payment considerations due to them.

After conducting appropriate due diligence on Accutor and in order to proceed with the acquisition deal, SHCM transferred funds in good faith to Accutor in March 2018.

SHCM made subsequent payments to Accutor for a limited period in order to access salary-payment systems operated through one of Accutor’s subsidiaries, which specialised in this service and was a payroll operator for many other companies.

The decision ensured that no employees experienced any interruption to their income in the period of transition following the acquisition. This contract with Accutor was terminated once SHCM was able to operate its payroll.

There is no connection between any of these payments and Joseph Muscat.

SHCM’s involvement in securing the concession was conducted in a fully transparent and legal manner in accordance with all relevant laws, with advice from respected international law firm McDermott Will & Emery.

At no point has SHCM had any inappropriate relationships before or since the completion of the acquisition. SHCM is not responsible for any subsequent activity undertaken by or through Accutor.

Several inaccurate claims have been made in the media with regard to the nature of SHCM’s interactions with Accutor AG, and on other issues relating to the transaction.

These false claims are based on uninformed conjecture, some made for political reasons, resulting in damage to SHCM’s standing. SHCM has continued to invest millions in Malta’s health care capacity despite the ‘unbankable’ terms of the concession that we have operated under.

We have been forced to tackle hidden liabilities inherited from VGH that had been not been noticed by the Maltese authorities, including a surprise VAT liability that we reported following our audit of the management accounts and is now being unfairly ascribed to us.

We continue to invest heavily in our health care facilities while ensuring that our financial losses do not undermine our mission of better health care for Malta and its people.

SHCM is proud to invest in Malta and remains dedicated to improving patient access to quality healthcare across the communities we serve.