Prime Minister 'already has access to the Vitals inquiry' Grech alleges

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has accused the Prime Minister of already having access to the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals Global Healthcare scandal, and of using it to obtain a political advantage.

Speaking on Friday at a political meeting in Mqabba, Grech challenged Prime Minister Robert Abela to take him to court if this was not true. “If it’s not true, go ahead and sue me.” 

Grech said that it was clear from Abela’s words and actions that he had already read the inquiry report.

The Prime Minister had sidestepped the question when MaltaToday had asked him directly about this outside the courts yesterday. 

“Abela is using this information to save his own skin while leaving others to drown.”, Grech said, reiterating his accusation.

The contents of magisterial inquiries are generally secret, but inquiry reports have been made public before, notably the partial conclusions of the Egrant inquiry - which had been unable to find a conclusive link between a number of prominent local figures, then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat amongst them, and an offshore company allegedly intended to launder kickbacks from passport sales.

Last week saw the conclusion of the Vitals Global Healthcare inquiry and its delivery to the Attorney General, who must now make a decision about whether or not to press criminal charges against the individuals and companies it identifies as worthy of prosecution.

Although currently impossible for the press to legally verify without access to the inquiry itself, multiple sources claim that it recommends charges against a number of individuals and companies, Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri amongst them,  on offences relating to money laundering. Chris Fearne and Edward are also understood to be earmarked for charges relating to less serious offences..

Speaking yesterday, Fearne publicly denied breaching ethics or the law, a day after he is believed to have offered his resignation as a Labour MP.

Outside the courts yesterday, Prime Minister Robert Abela gave the impression that he had already seen a copy of the inquiry, telling the MaltaToday that he “would not rest on the inquiry’s conclusions” when taking a decision on whether or not to take further steps against any officials the inquiry may identify.

“I will look at the entire document and see if those recommended for criminal prosecution are cited in the inquiry text as having probably committed a crime, or if the conclusions advise criminal prosecution despite the report itself finding no evidence of them having committed a crime,” Abela said.

The prime minister went on: “I will also see if the report recommends prosecutions out of the blue for people whose only sin is having been loyal to the state, under both PN and PL administrations."

The magisterial inquiry had been set off after Repubblika filed a court application  in 2019, requesting an investigation into possible corruption in the hospitals deal with Vitals Global Healthcare, a company which had no experience in the sector.

The former leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia had filed a separate civil case, requesting the rescission of the contract on the grounds of fraud. Delia’s case was upheld at both first instance and on appeal, resulting in the hospitals being returned to the government.