Robert Abela has known that the hospitals' deal was fraudulent since 2021, way before last month's judgment, and still continued to defend it, Adrian Delia claimed in parliament on Wednesday.
"Steward CEO Armin Ernst had sent a letter to the prime minister and the state advocate in September 2021 telling them there were 'clear indications' that the deal awarded to Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) was 'fraudulent'," Delia said.
"It is not true that Abela just discovered there was fraud when the judgment was handed last month, Delia said. He knew there was fraud since at least September 2021, and despite knowing that these contracts were vitiated, he continued to defend the deal."
On Wednesday, the PN MP and former Opposition Leader tabled eight different documents in parliament, which he said shed light on the truth behind the Vitals and Stewards deal.
One of the documents is a 14-page letter dated September 27, 2021, addressed to Abela and state advocate Christopher Soler, and signed by Steward Healthcare President and CEO Armin Ernst and the company's general lawyer.
Attached files
Delia quoted an excerpt from the second page: "Recent evidence suggests that the granting of the concession to VGH was, to say the least, improper. It is not the purpose of this letter to consider and conclude if the award was fraudulent (though there are clear indications that this is the case). This analysis will require further investigation and review of documentation which may not be made available to us and is beyond our purpose today. We are, though, aware that criminal investigation proceedings are underway and as part of such proceedings, Steward Malta has had its offices searched by the police."
"So, the Prime Minister was in possession of a letter from Steward Healthcare saying that there were irregularities and probably fraud," Delia said.
"My case had still not been decided back then, and despite this letter, Abela continued to defend the deal. So he knew there was probably fraud because Steward itself told him."
Delia added that nobody could have been in a better position to understand the irregularities of the Vitals deal than Armin Ernst himself because he was also the CEO of Vitals before he took the helm of Steward.
In an opinion piece published on Times of Malta in February last year, Steward Healthcare Malta CEO Nadine Delicata indicated that the situation was not easy or nice during the time Vitals ran the hospitals.
"Things were actually worse than most people realise," she had said.