Ram Tumuluri has taken claims of corruption between Maltese government officials and Steward Health Care to the US Congress, CBS News has reported.
The former Vitals director has alleged Steward US CEO Ralph de la Torre said he could give “brown bags” to government officials to close transactions.
Steward took over the “fraudulent” hospitals contract from Vitals in 2018.
Tumuluri claims Steward and top government officials, including ex-OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, conspired to muscle Vitals out of the contract.
The claims echo a 500-page filing made by Tumuluri under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act last year, in a bid to turn whistleblower.
Tumuluri’s claims were also passed on to a magisterial inquiry into the hospitals deal.
Although the inquiry recommended criminal action against a slew of government and Steward officials, it labelled Tumuluri’s claims as offering a “one-sided view which promotes Mr Tumuluri’s current agenda against Steward Malta”.
“It fails to consider his wider role in the development of the concession or bear any personal responsibility for his own conduct or culpability,” the inquiry said.
Tumuluri is among those whom the inquiry magistrate said should face charges.
Tumuluri’s lawyer Andrew Bakaj told CBS News that Tumuluri has offered his “assistance and testimony” to the Maltese authorities on “multiple occasions”, but has been “ignored”.
Steward’s conduct has come under close scrutiny in the US after it declared bankruptcy, throwing the fate of its 30 hospitals into question.
De la Torre has been summoned to testify before congress about the bankruptcy.
A spokesperson for de la Torre told CBS News that the claims by Tumuluri are “preposterous”.
De la Torre has yet to appear in Malta to answer to the charges prepared by the inquiry.
His spokesperson said the inquiry was not based on an “objective or reliable investigation”.
The evidence uncovered by investigators points towards the use of a Swiss company by Steward to pass on alleged bribes ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat and other officials.
All involved deny wrongdoing.