Pressure group asks if timing of VGH concession sale and anti-money laundering directive transposition is just a coincidence

Newly-formed pressure group Aw

turi ta’ Malta Ġdida yesterday suggested that the sale of Vitals Global Healthcare’s concession to run three Maltese hospitals would not have been permitted under the EU’s anti-moneylaundering rules, and questioned the timing of the VGH deal and Malta’s transposition of the EU directive.

In a statement yesterday, the group noted: “None of this would have been permitted under the newly transcribed EU directive against money-laundering and corruption.

“It does not seem to be a coincidence that the government postponed this directive until after this deal had been struck. The deal is potently reminiscent of money-laun- dering schemes, and the lack of transparency in which it was made does nothing to bolster its legitimacy.

“The matter is aggravated by the fact that the deal involved money from the public purse obtained from the taxes of Maltese citizens.”

The group highlighted how Vitals Global Healthcare had no prior experience in healthcare and yet it had been awarded a lucrative administrative contract and later turned around and sold the contract to Steward Health Care “at a profit in the hundreds of millions with unknown beneficiaries”.

Awturi insisted on a public hearing “to scrutinise this shady deal that reeks of corruption, devoid of any transparency and accountability to Maltese citizens”.

Current Health Minister Chris Fearne, who will oversee Vitals’ handover to Steward