A close political aide to Chris Fearne says she is the victim of a frame-up in a “dirty campaign” to discredit the deputy prime minister.

Carmen Ciantar suspended herself from her role as Foundation for Medical Services (FMS) CEO, hours after corruption claims surfaced in the Pakistani media.

More claims later emerged on a Brussels-based website linking a purported €3.2 million payment from a Russian passport buyer to Ciantar’s daughter, as part of an alleged kickback to Fearne.

The article on EU Reporter has since been deleted.

In a written interview with Times of Malta, Ciantar said whoever is behind the campaign is trying to simultaneously frame her, her daughter and the health minister.

“Clearly, my daughter and I are collateral damage. This is really a dirty campaign to try to discredit the deputy prime minister, who I have had the honour to work for and whose integrity he never gave me reason to doubt.”

Ciantar is a close political aide to Fearne, having led his successful Labour deputy leadership campaign in 2017.

Pakistan Today claimed Ciantar received €443,500 in payments from a company linked to Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH).

VGH was handed the running of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals in 2015, one year prior to Ciantar being appointed as FMS CEO.

The foundation runs healthcare projects in Malta.

‘I didn’t get a penny from anyone’

Ciantar says the claims are a complete lie, as she has never received a penny from anyone involved in the hospitals deal.

She says she only met then-VGH director Ram Tumuluri once “briefly after the tender was awarded,” and never met anyone else linked to Vitals.

The deal was awarded to VGH in 2015, while Ciantar only took up her role as FMS head the following year.

Ciantar used to head Enemalta billing agency ARMS, which at the time fell under the responsibility of ex-health and energy minister Konrad Mizzi.

She says Mizzi never involved her in the hospital contract, either before or after the tender was awarded to VGH.

Despite being stripped of his health portfolio due to the 2016 Panama Papers scandal, ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat kept Mizzi in overall control of the hospitals contract and project.

The VGH/Steward hospitals deal was annulled by a civil court on fraud grounds in February, and a criminal investigation has been closing in on a suspect money trail leading to Muscat.

A few days after the VGH kickback claims emerged in Pakistan Today, an article in EU Reporter further claimed that Ciantar’s daughter Celine received a multimillion-euro payment from a Russian passport buyer.

The payment was intended for Fearne, according to the article which has since been deleted.

‘The truth is winning out’ 

Ciantar says whoever is behind this “dirty campaign” tried to frame her and failed.

“Then they attempted a frame-up on my daughter and failed again. The truth is winning out and it will continue to do so.”

Just like all these “nasty allegations”, Ciantar says the claim against her daughter is another absolute and total lie.

“My daughter does not have a foreign bank account, never did, never received any funds from the Russian you mentioned and never even heard of him.”

Ciantar’s assertions of a frame-up naturally lead to the question of who is behind it.

The deleted EU Reporter article even contained a copy of a document purporting to show the €3.2 million transfer to Ciantar’s daughter.

Ciantar refuses to point fingers at anyone, instead placing the onus on the courts, police and journalists to get to the bottom of things.

“All I will say is that whoever is doing this has had to resort to extremely dubious or anonymous foreign websites to commit these foul, malicious and criminal deeds.

“By extension, I am disappointed that those who have been vociferous for years about the rule of law have suddenly gone silent when these crystal-clear frame-ups are now staring them in the face.”

Ciantar has twice written to police commissioner Angelo Gafà, imploring him to investigate the claims being made about her.

She has also asked to testify in the ongoing magisterial inquiry into the VGH and Steward deals.

Would I have done so if I had anything to hide?

Ciantar says that neither the police nor the magistrate have spoken to her yet.

“As a citizen of a European democracy, I expect the institutions to uncover the truth, apprehend the perpetrators and deliver justice.”

Ciantar says the moment the first “frame-up” popped up in the Pakistani site, she suspended herself from her post and asked the police commissioner to investigate her.

“Would I have done so if I had anything to hide? My message to these dark forces behind all this is simple: I have shone all the light I can on you. Now it is up to the police, real journalists and the courts to find you and ferret you out.”

Explaining the reason behind her “self-suspension”, Ciantar says she chose this route to both to be able to defend her integrity and so as to act in the best interest of the deputy prime minister and the government as a whole.

Asked what it will take for her to return to her role, Ciantar declined to answer, saying she remains a strong believer in due process and will, therefore, refrain from commenting further on the matter.

“When I had informed the deputy prime minister of my decision to suspend myself, he agreed that it was the correct and honourable thing to do, adding that he does not doubt my integrity.”