Updated 12.20pm with Muscat right of reply

A court-appointed expert that Joseph Muscat wants criminally investigated played a major role in the Egrant inquiry that Muscat often says vindicated him.

Muscat says Miroslava Milenovic should face a raft of criminal charges because she was described as an “accountant” in the Vitals inquiry that has landed him in the dock, despite her not having an accountancy warrant.

That raises questions about what Muscat, a former prime minister, makes of Milenovic’s work in a 2018 inquiry concerning his family and Panama company Egrant Inc. Muscat often cites that inquiry as proof that he was framed by his political enemies.

Milenovic’s name is mentioned 99 times in the Egrant inquiry by Magistrate (now Judge) Aaron Bugeja into claims that Muscat’s wife, Michelle, was the ultimate beneficial owner of Egrant Inc., a Panama-based company opened by disbarred brokers Nexia BT.

In that report, as in the Vitals one, the Serbian court expert is described as a “forensic accountant”.

What did Milenovic find in the Egrant probe?

Milenovic’s conclusions in the Egrant probe were that there was “no evidence” that Egrant was owned by Michelle Muscat, Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna or anyone else, due to the suspected use of anonymous bearer shares.

She also found no evidence that Muscat or any of his immediate family members held accounts at Pilatus Bank, and said there was not enough information to reach a conclusion about claims that a secret safe at the bank held information about Russian clients and Maltese Politically Exposed Persons, as well as the owner of Egrant Inc.

The Egrant report’s conclusions were released in July 2018. Starting that same day, Muscat has described it as evidence that he and his family were victims of a political frame-up.

Muscat has also described his prosecution in the Vitals case as “another Egrant”.

Weeks before he was charged with corruption, bribery, money laundering and other crimes last May, the former prime minister said the Vitals inquiry was a political “vendetta”.

“Ironically it happened exactly seven years after the Egrant issue, when they lied about me and my family,” the former prime minister said at the time. 

The Vitals inquiry found signs that millions of euros had been siphoned out of the Muscat-era deal to privatise three state hospitals. Muscat was hired as a consultant by people linked to that deal months after he resigned as prime minister. 

Dozens of people, Muscat among them, have been charged with crimes. Muscat denies all charges and says the consultancy work was legit. 

But while Muscat had no issue with Milenovic’s work on the Egrant probe, he now argues that she should be investigated by the police for describing herself as an “accountant” in the Vitals inquiry.

What did Milenovic do in the Vitals probe?

While Milenovic’s name features 99 times in the Egrant report, there are only five mentions of her in the Vitals inquiry.

However, Milenovic is the first court-appointed expert cited in the Vitals inquiry report and 100 pages of her work are included in the report, meaning her work on the probe carried considerable weight.

Milenovic's credentials have been challenged and she has now been reported to the police by defendants. Photo: Facebook

She was also present when many of the witnesses were being questioned by the magistrate during the four-year-long probe.

Is Milenovic a qualified expert?

Lawyers representing Muscat and others this week filed a criminal complaint against Milenovic, asking police to investigate her for perjury, making use of false documents and obtaining money through false pretences, among other crimes.

They argue that Milenovic misrepresented herself when describing herself as an “accountant”, as she does not have an accountancy warrant and had only sat for a diploma in the subject.

Milenovic has countered by saying she has 20 years of experience working as an accountant for a Big Four firm.

Although she has never held a warrant as an accountant in Malta, Milenovic has practised as a certified accountant abroad and signed off on numerous financial statements and tax reports.

According to an online biography found on a Serbian anti-corruption council’s website, Milenovic is a certified fraud examiner in the US and has held various high-ranking government positions in Serbia.

She became a member of the Serbian anti-corruption council in 2012, and in 2015, she was recognised by the OSCE as the “person of the year” for the fight against corruption and for media freedom.

Milenovic has also trained staff at the MFSA and FIAU on combatting money-laundering.

What does the law say?

Whether or not Milenovic’s job title is acceptable under Maltese law will be for the court to determine. While the Accountancy Profession Act categorically states that only warrant holders may practice as accountants, the Accountancy Profession Regulations list five specific tasks which only warrant holders may perform. Forensic accounting for criminal investigation purposes is not one of them.

Local accountancy regulations state that a warrant is required for five specific tasks.

The criminal complaint filed this week suggests Muscat and other defendants in the Vitals case are preparing to challenge the admissibility of Milenovic’s work in the magisterial inquiry.

Under Malta’s criminal law system, that can only happen at a later stage. The case is currently at the compilation stage, meaning the court’s role is to compile all evidence prosecutors have amassed. Defendants will be able to challenge the admissibility of specific pieces of evidence at the pre-trial stage.

But Milenovic’s past work on the Egrant probe may present a challenge for Muscat and his lawyers: if the Serbian expert’s work on the Vitals probe is discredited, will that call into question her findings in the Egrant probe that he so often highlights as a vindication?

It is the second time Milenovic’s credibility as a witness has been questioned by a defendant in Malta’s courts.

In 2023, lawyers representing Keith Schembri argued that Milenovic’s work in an inquiry into his business dealings and suspected money laundering was discredited because she had formed part of an anti-corruption party in her native Serbia.

Milenovic’s work with Serbia’s anti-corruption council led to her being assaulted outside her Belgrade apartment in 2015. She subsequently quit the council and helped found the “Enough is Enough” party. She quit that party in 2018.

Schembri’s lawyers argued that Milenovic’s political views meant she could not impartially investigate him.

Schembri, who served as Muscat’s chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister, is also facing charges of corruption and bribery in the Vitals case and he endorsed the criminal complaint filed against Milenovic this week.

Lawyers representing various defendants in the Vitals case have also raised questions about another expert witness used in the magisterial probe.

They say Sam Sittlington, an Irish financial crimes expert, tried to land a lucrative consultancy gig with the Malta Police during his time working on the Vitals investigation. That, they argue, mean he had a potential conflict on interest during the probe.

Muscat: I have nothing to hide

In a right of reply sent through his lawyer Charlon Gouder, Muscat said he would relish the opportunity to revisit the Egrant inquiry. 

Muscat's right of reply is reproduced in full below: 

"As you will surely know, there is a Court Order precluding me from commenting on the ongoing Vitals case where Ms Miroslava Milenovic, who was appointed by the Court as a Forensic Accountant, admitted she does not hold a degree in accounting and does not have a warrant to practice.

"I will limit myself to commenting on the Egrant case, where someone, to date unknown, faked signatures and a so called whistleblower claimed my wife owned a secret offshore company.  The claims were shown to be false and the latter has eloped Maltese justice.

"In the Egrant case, the then Magistrate took the expert reports as one of the inputs for his work.  He confronted versions, asked questions, made his own assessments and came up with his own report.

"Secondly, given that I was the victim in the Egrant frame up, I never had the opportunity to confront Ms Milenovic in court.

"There are those who might argue that now the Egrant case should be reopened.  As I said numerous times when such a possibility was floated, including by the said court experts who salivated at the idea of getting paid even more public funds: Make my day!

"I have nothing to hide and will only take further satisfaction in proving the conspiracy theorists wrong once again."