Two funeral directors and a care worker were granted bail after pleading not guilty to their alleged involvement in the leakage of confidential information regarding deceased hospital patients.
Mario Lia, 57, and Angelo Vella, 62, both of Żabbar, were charged with having corrupted care worker Anthony Mercieca, 59, who in turn was charged with passing on sensitive personal data, accepting bribes and relapsing.
The arraignments followed in the wake of a report to the Times of Malta by a man whose father had passed away at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre.
Two funeral directors had allegedly turned up outside the family home to offer their services even before the hospital authorities had officially communicated news of the death to the patient’s relatives.
The deceased’s family pointed their fingers in the direction of hospital staff for allegedly divulging personal information, giving the undertakers the patient’s name, time of death as well as personal address and mobile number.
Following police investigations into the matter, all three men were arraigned and duly charged before duty magistrate Monica Vella who granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 each.
Mr Lia was ordered to make a bail deposit of €1,000 while his two alleged partners in crime were to deposit €2,000 each.
Inspector Anne Marie Xuereb prosecuted. Lawyer Keith Borg was defence counsel to Mr Vella and Mr Lia. Lawyer Kenneth Cutajar was defence counsel to Mr Mercieca.