Updated 4pm
Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and a number of other persons charged in connection with the Vitals hospital concession have called upon the police commissioner to take criminal action against a forensic expert who testified that she was not a warranted accountant despite having been appointed a forensic accountant by an inquiring magistrate.
The former prime minister, his former minister and the former chief of staff, together with Clarence John Conger-Thompson, Christopher Spiteri, Jonathan Vella, Ivan Vassallo, Brian Bondin, Pierre Sladden, Kasco Engineering Company Ltd, Technoline Limited and Eurybates Ltd filed a criminal complaint on Thursday afternoon.
The filing targeted Serbian-national Miroslava Milenovic who was appointed as one of the forensic accountants by Magistrate Gabriella Vella when conducting the inquiry into the now-annulled hospitals privatisation deal.
The expert was summoned as a witness on Wednesday when proceedings continued against Muscat and the other co-defendants.
Under tight cross examination by Muscat’s lawyers, she said that she never obtained a warrant as an accountant but insisted that she was a “qualified accountant.”
Muscat and the other complainants are now highlighting the fact that this expert had been appointed by various magistrates to assist them in their in genere inquiries, always on the pretext of her declaration that she was an accountant.
Yet during her cross-examination on Wednesday, Milenovic admitted that she was not an accountant, “let alone a forensic accountant,” stressed the complainants.
Moreover, when applying for a work-related residence permit in Malta, Milenovic had apparently described herself as an accountant.
The complainants noted that in parallel proceedings against former Deputy Minister Chris Fearne and the second tier of defendants linked to the Vitals inquiry, the Registrar of the Criminal Courts and Tribunals presented a list of the “many thousands of euro,” received by Milenovic for her expert work in the inquiry.
And when testifying previously before inquiring magistrates and at other court proceedings, Milenovic had regularly confirmed on oath that she was an expert chartered accountant.
The complainants called upon the police commissioner to investigate the matter without delay and to take criminal action against “the suspect” for a number of crimes including perjury, malicious use of false documents, false declarations to a public authority, forgery and use of forged documents, obtaining money through false pretences as well as breaches under the accountancy and money laundering laws.
Milenovic was also supposed to testify in proceedings against Shaukat Ali Chaudhry on Thursday, but the prosecution opted not to have her on the stand after it emerged that she would have learned of a criminal complaint filed against her there and then.
Lawyer Shaheryar Ghaznavi informed the court, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, of the complaint prior to the start of proceedings and asked whether it would be prudent to caution the witness, given the circumstances.
“Seeing as she is about to find out from the court, it might put her in a position where she is not able to testify properly because her mind is not clear,” he said.
After a brief adjournment, lawyers from the Attorney General’s office informed the court that Milenovic would not be proceeding with testimony at this time.
Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo are assisting Mizzi, Schembri and his companies. Lawyers Vince Galea, Ishmael Psaila, Luke Dalli and Charlon Gouder are assisting Muscat.
Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is assisting Vassallo, Bondin, Sladden and the other companies. Lawyer Jason Grima is assisting Spiteri and Vella.
Lawyers Shaheryar Ghaznavi and Alex Scerri Herrera are assisting Conger-Thompson.