No commitment from PM to sue Steward Healthcare for €300 million refund

Prime Minister Robert Abela does not want to say whether he will be filing a court case against Stewards Health Care to recoup some €300 million in taxpayer funds related to the fraudulent concession of three public hospitals.

Challenged in parliament by PN MP Darren Carabott, the Prime Minister refused to give a clear answer, citing ongoing legal procedures.

Following last Sunday’s protest against the €4 billion deal, an amount confirmed in Judge Depasquale’s ruling that ordered the contract be dismissed, Carabott reiterated the opposition’s challenge and asked Abela whether he is going to follow up with a court case to recover the hundreds of millions paid to Vitals Global Healthcare and Steward Health Care.

Instead of giving a straight reply, Abela said his government wanted to know whether an appeal would be filed against the Court’s ruling by third parties before deciding on any further action.

“It will be only after a potential appeal is decided that we will explore avenues to protect the national interest in the best possible way,” Abela told Carabott.

While Abela is trying to distance himself from the corrupt deal, putting all the blame on his predecessor Joseph Muscat, millions in payments given to Steward were approved by Abela in three consecutive budgets under his administration.

For years, the PN opposition, the nurse’s union MUMN and the Medical Association of Malta (MUM) warned about the fraudulent deal signed by Labour in 2015.

Still, Abela kept defending the deal and forking out some €80 million a year to Steward while his Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne had given his consent to Steward buying the Vitals concession, calling it as “the real deal.”

Muscat conducted the deal with the help of several enablers, including former Ministers Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona and Edward Scicluna, the focus of an ongoing magisterial inquiry initiated in 2019.