An auditor who gave a clean bill of health to Vitals Global Healthcare is suspected to have acted as a “professional money launderer”.
Accountant and auditor Chris Spiteri is at the centre of a web of companies set up by “secret” Vitals owner Shaukat Ali and his family members.
An investigation into the hospitals deal established that Spiteri facilitated the Alis in setting up several companies directly involved in the healthcare concession.
Many of these companies are suspected to have subsequently been used to siphon off public money into private hands.
Investigators concluded Spiteri was privy to the “relatively enormous value of funds and additional benefits extracted by the Ali family” from the deal. These included lucrative consultancy contracts, employment contracts, luxury cars, travel and IT supply deals.
They further allege that Spiteri was complicit in helping key players like Ali conceal the extent of their interests in the hospitals deal.
He also used his client account to be used as a funnel for suspicious transactions, including for a medical cannabis firm suspected to be linked to former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.
Spiteri was also aware that Ali had been actively involved in business in Libya, and Ali’s second wife had acted as personal secretary to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, investigators said.
Ali denies wrongdoing and has downplayed his Libya links to Times of Malta.
'Spiteri set aside his professional ethics'
Investigators further allege that Spiteri accepted a €50,000 bonus from Steward to audit Vitals’ accounts and give the company a clean bill of health.
This was done to ensure a smooth takeover of Vitals by Steward. Investigators said the bonus was offered to him via Ali’s son Asad.
The bonus was “secretly built-in” to Spiteri’s audit fee and spread across the audit engagement fees for five companies.
In accepting the bonus, Spiteri “set aside his professional ethics” and undermined the validity of the audit.
Spiteri is facing a raft of charges, including forming part of a criminal association with Schembri, ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat and ex-health minister Konrad Mizzi.
In May, Spiteri took to Facebook to protest his innocence.
Spiteri said he has never even met the ex-prime minister “in person”, let alone facilitated trading in influence.
Spiteri said during the course of his audits of Steward, “I have never known that any criminal association exists”.
“No bribery or money laundering have also ever come to my knowledge during all this time. I have been accused of facilitating trading in influence for Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri – the truth is that I have never even met these individuals in person, let alone facilitating anything,” Spiteri said.