A medical supplier investigated as part of a corruption and money-laundering probe tops the list of companies that received public funds via direct orders from the government this year.
Technoline received €824,000 worth of direct orders between January and October, more than any other company in Malta, according to information tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana in reply to a PQ by PN MP Darren Carabott.
Public procurement rules advise that direct orders are to be used as a last resort and should be limited in scope and value.
A Technoline representative said the bulk of the €800,000 was for the extension of servicing agreements for medical equipment previously provided via a public tender, rather than being ‘new’ direct orders.
Technoline is one of a web of companies on the police’s radar after it was given exclusive rights in 2017 to handle medical procurement for Vitals Global Healthcare.
Vitals Global Health care, which was handed the running of three public hospitals despite having no track record in healthcare, has been the subject of a magisterial inquiry since 2019 over suspected corruption in the government concession.
In the lead-up to the procurement deal, Technoline’s current managing director Ivan Vassallo bought out the medical supplier from his former bosses.
The deal is suspected to have been financed by the people behind Vitals. All involved deny any wrongdoing.
In a separate development, PN MPs Adrian Delia and Alex Borg last month filed a judicial protest over a “fishy” €20 million cancer treatment contract awarded to Technoline.
Technoline’s bid was selected despite costing double the original €12 million estimate.
The government insists the tendering process was entirely lawful and carried out correctly.
New bunker
Shift News first flagged concerns that the tender was made to measure for Technoline, as the government set about building a new bunker to house the equipment because the existing hospital facilities did not fit the model supplied by the company.
“Originally, the tender was just for the equipment and did not require the construction of a new bunker,” Delia said after presenting the judicial protest.
“The government bound itself to commission the construction of a new bunker because the winning bidder’s model did not fit in the existing bunkers.”
Delia, the former opposition leader, has become synonymous with the Vital Global Healthcare hospitals deal, having taken the matter to court in a bid to have the three facilities returned to the public.