What we know about the Steward tribunal decision - and what remains unclear

An international court of arbitration has rejected a claim by former healthcare concessionaire Steward that the government unlawfully terminated its contract to run three hospitals and owed it contractual damages. 

Times of Malta unpacks what this all means. 

What is the International Court of Arbitration? 

The court referees disputes between parties, in this case the government and Steward Health Care.

Although called a court in name, the tribunal makes it clear on its website that it does not make formal judgments on disputed matters.

Instead, it administers arbitrations by exercising judicial supervision of arbitration proceedings.

The proceedings are held in private and are based on the legal submissions made by both parties.

Prime Minister Robert Abela says the tribunal found “no fraud” in the deal.

It is not yet known whether Abela’s government actually tried to argue fraud before the tribunal, as that would effectively mean throwing his predecessor Joseph Muscat under the bus.

The hospitals deal was signed under Muscat’s government, and annulled by the Maltese courts on the grounds of fraud and “collusion” between Steward and government officials.

How did we get here?

Steward decided to open a dispute before the tribunal after a Maltese court in 2023 terminated its contract to run three public hospitals on fraud grounds.

Internal e-mails from the healthcare provider show they saw the tribunal proceedings as an “opportunity” to trigger a €100 million payout from the government for the contract’s termination.

Then Health Minister Chris Fearne said the government would use the tribunal case to recover any funds due to it by Steward.

"There were things during this saga that were done behind my back but let me assure you that, this time, nothing is now being done behind my back," Fearne had told parliament.

Leaked corporate records went on to show that a campaign to smear Fearne with “fake” corruption claims was funded by Steward Health Care. 

The tribunal proceedings are separate from the criminal proceedings being faced by Fearne, Muscat and others before the Maltese courts.

What exactly does the tribunal report say?

We don't know the full details. 

The 200-page decision has not been published. Abela has promised to do so as soon as he is given the green light by his legal team. 

But the government says it ruled that Malta and Steward health care do not owe each other any compensation for the government's decision to terminate the concession deal. 

It concluded Steward was only owed €4.8 million from the government as the balance of benefits received and not the €148 million compensation the healthcare company was seeking. 

Where did the €400m claim come from?

The Opposition.

Its battle cry has always been that all payments by the government to Steward and their predecessors Vitals for running the hospitals were part of the fraud, and were therefore "stolen." 

These payments were meant to cover the running costs of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals.

The “stolen” €400 million figure became part of the Opposition’s overarching narrative about the hospitals deal.

Former Opposition leader Bernard Grech roped the prime minister into the accusation, arguing that €280 million of the €400 million was paid to Steward under Abela’s government.

Adrian Delia, whose court case led to the annulment of the Steward contract, has also peddled the €400 million claim.

The €400 million figure also comes from National Audit Office reports into the hospitals deal, but also included costs such as salaries to doctors, nurses and other hospital workers. 

Abela has pitched the tribunal’s decision as proof the Opposition’s narrative that Steward made off with every single penny paid to it was a lie.

“The PN relentlessly repeated claims that Steward went off with €400 million in taxpayer money. This decision confirms that was not true,” Abela said during a press conference on Monday.

“The Opposition was lying from day one. It sold a false claim to the people. Adrian Delia’s claim not only was discarded, but the tribunal found Steward delivered more in services than what it was paid for,” Abela continued.

Muscat also used the yet unpublished tribunal decision to claim victory.

The decision, he said, was confirmation that the hospitals concession was not fraudulent. 

So was anything ‘stolen’?

A total of €30 million, according to prosecutors.

Muscat has been slapped with a €30 million asset freeze as part of the money-laundering, corruption and criminal association case against him. Reminder: this is entirely separate to the tribunals decision on whether there were any contractural breaches. 

His chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-Health Minister Konrad Mizzi face similar asset freezes. The trio are challenging the €30 million freezing order.

According to calculations made by Vitals’ own financial chief, around €26 million was stolen in just the first two years of the 30-year deal.

The alleged theft was flagged to Schembri in 2017, yet nothing was done.

Investigators say the deal had all the hallmarks of a "ponzi scheme". 

A magisterial inquiry into the hospitals deal alleges the former government officials sought to benefit from a slush fund set up by Steward via a Swiss intermediary company called Accutor.

Payments into the suspected political bribery fund were linked to Steward Health Care's negotiations with the government to receive more money.

Times of Malta revealed how Muscat received €60,000 worth of “consultancy” payments from Accutor in the months after stepping down as prime minister in January 2020.

The consultancy contract was worth over €500,000, however payments to Muscat stopped after just four months.

Accutor even had a secret backdoor deal to receive 30% of Steward Health Care's dividends from Steward’s profits form the hospitals deal.  

What does Steward say about the tribunal's ruling? 

For now, the only details of the decision were communicated in a 260-word Department of Information statement released on Monday afternoon, followed by a press conference by Abela and Justice Minister Jonathan Attard in the afternoon.

The DOI statement was most likely also approved by Steward, given the non-disclosure clauses that prevail in most such cases.

Steward has so far said nothing.

We sent emails to the now-shuttered company to get their take on the decision but they all bounced back.