Fil-Qorti tal-Maġistrati (Malta)
Fl-atti tal-Inkjesta ‘in genere’ dwar il-korruzzjoni tal-kuntratti tal-VGH
Lil Magistrat Dr Gabriella Vella LL.D.
Rikors ta’ REPUBBLIKA:
Tesponi bil-qima:
Illi lbieraħ tard waranofsinhar (It-Tnejn) l-Ufficju tal-Awditur Ġenerali ippubblika t-tielet rapport tiegħu dwar il-konċessjoni li ingħatat lill-VGH u SHC mill-Gvern (https://nao.gov.mt//loadfile/d11b253f-25d7-43fd-b34b-94ef843a73dd).
Permezz ta’ dan ir-rikors, l-esponenti (Repubblika) tixtieq umilment u urġentement iġġib a formali konjizzjoni tal-Maġistrat Inkwirenti l-imsemmi rapport li hu rapport b’konklużjonijiet xokkanti u li jikkonferma iktar kemm kellha raġun l-NGO meta talbet il-ftuħ ta’ din l-Inkjesta Maġisterjali fuq din il-ħadma bi flus il-poplu.
Fost ohrajn, f’dan ir-rapport l-Awditur Ġenerali uża lingwaġġ iebes immens biex ikkonkluda li t-trasferiment mill-VGh għal SHC ma kien xejn għajr “ħadma” (machinations) u li Konrad Mizzi deliberatament żgwida u qarraq bil-Cabinet biex il-Gvern Malti spiċċa intrabat li jħallas is-somma ta’ mitt miljun euro (€100,000,000) lil SHC f’każ ta’ dikjarazzjoni ta’ nullita tal-konċessjoni, proprju ftit ġimgħat biss wara li infetħet din l-Inkjesta Maġisterjali mill-esponenti.
Fost ohrajn, f’dan ir-rapport insibu f’punt 9 tal-Executive Summary tieghu: “The unorthodox dynamic that persisted between the Prime Minister and the Minister for Tourism, to the detriment of the Minister for Health’s ability to negotiate with the SHC, remained a matter of grave concern to the NAO. The delegation of responsibility for a health concession to the Minister for Tourism was deemed illogical by the NAO and provided a convenient opportunity for the exploitation of Government, creating weakness where there ought to have been none, a weakness all to readily leveraged by the SHC. The most evident exploitation was that secured by the SHC in terms of Government’s liability to pay €100,000,000 and the sum of the lenders’ debt to the Concessionaire in case of court-declared nullity of the concession agreements, irrespective of the party attributed the default, a situation precipitated by the Minister for Tourism and engineered through his misleading of Cabinet. Compounding matters was that Cabinet’s authorisation was not sought by the Minister for Tourism in instances when Government acted as guarantor in several financing agreements entered into by the SHC and the Bank of Valletta plc (BOV).”
Ta’ min jinnota b’mod partikolari dak li l-NAO qal fit-tieni u tielet Kapitli tar-Rapport imsemmi fejn jidher ċar, lil hinn minn kull dubbju raġjonevoli, l-ħsieb malinn u l-mens rea tal-atturi prinċipali f’din il-ħidma, li apparti Joseph Muscat, Chris Cardona, Konrad Mizzi, kien jinkludi wkoll il-kompliċtà ta’ Keith Schembri u ta’ Ronald Mizzi, l-Permanent Secretary ta’ Konrad Mizzi li mingħajru ma setax ikun żgwidat u mqarraq il-Cabinet.
Insibu wkoll diversi drabi istanzi fejn l-NAO stabilixxa li f’Para 3.4.6 li Joseph Muscat u Konrad Mizzi kienu f’konfoffa biex ħadmu lill-Ministru tas-Saħħa u ħadmu minn wara dahru:-
“Given that contract-related matters were ordinarily brought to the attention of Cabinet by the Minister for Tourism, the NAO enquired as to the context for the involvement of the Minister for Health in this submission to Cabinet. The Minister for Health informed this Office that, in the months leading to this memorandum to Cabinet, he was informed that the MOT was negotiating with the SHC, which negotiations were to result in additional payments by the Government to the Concessionaire without any increase in services. This was deemed unacceptable to the Minister for Health, who raised objections with the Prime Minister. According to the Minister for Health, the Prime Minister assigned responsibility for negotiations to him; however, the Minister for Health indicated that, despite this commitment, negotiations continued between the MOT and the SHC without his involvement. The Minister for Health explained that the SHC would hold discussions with the Minister for Tourism and utilise commitments provided by the latter as leverage in subsequent negotiations with the Minister for Health. This situation resulted in the responsibility assigned to the Minister for Health being short-lived, with the Minister for Tourism reassuming control of negotiations between the Government and the SHC”.
Imbagħad f’Para.2.5.11 insibu konferma ta’ dak li qalet REPUBBLIKA fir-rikors promotur tal-ftuħ ta’ din l-Inkjesta Maġisterjalili kien hemm ftehim bil-moħbi minn Chris Cardona, Joseph Muscat u Konrad Mizzi biex l-għoti tal-kuntratt lill-VGH ikun biss konferma tal-MoU li kienu iffirmaw bil-moħbi mal-istess investituri tal-VGH 6 xhur qabel biss:
“the Director VGH indicated that when the concession was awarded to the VGH in 2015, Mr Shaukat Ali was employed as a general consultant to the VGH following a recommendation by the Chief of Staff OPM. According to the Director VGH, Mr Shaukat Ali then recommended his son to the VGH, Mr Asad Ali, who was employed as a public relations and marketing consultant by the VGH. It is pertinent to note that Mr Shaukat Ali was a signatory to the MoU entered into on 10 October 2014 by the Government and the developers and operators of a project that bore significant similarities to the concession that would eventually be awarded to the VGH. Aside from the similarities in the nature of the project, the NAO established that there existed significant overlap between the investors that entered into the MoU with Government and the owners of the VGH. The overlap in terms of the nature of the project and the identity of the investors strongly supported this Office’s understanding that the issuance of the RfP, and therefore the subsequent award of the concession, was orchestrated to deceive. The NAO’s concerns regarding the integrity of this concession resonate with the ample press coverage alleging the substantial payments that Mr Shaukat Ali, Mr Asad Ali and other family members, directly and through companies that they were involved in, reportedly received from the VGH and the SHC. The central role of the Chief of Staff OPM, as highlighted by the Director VGH, would aggravate these concerns.”
F’Para 9.2.11: “An element of explanation as to the absence of the VGH in interactions between the Government and the SHC was provided to the NAO by the Director VGH, who claimed that he was forced to transfer the shares of the VGH under duress, despite him having no intention to do so. The Director VGH indicated his willingness to disclose further information subject to sufficient legal safeguards being provided, which safeguards were not within the powers of this Office. In this context, the Director VGH was reluctant to elaborate on the nature of and who exerted the duress. No evidence substantiating that alleged was provided by the Director VGH to this Office. If that alleged is true, then the actions of those involved in exerting duress draw the NAO’s gravest concerns. Although the Director VGH did not disclose further information relating to the issue of duress, he alleged there were instances when the Government thwarted efforts at securing financing by withholding documentation required by the bank through which the financing was sought. In this respect, the Director VGH asserted that the Government was served with notice that it was in default of its obligations under the concession”.
Fil-fatt ir-rapport tal-NAO jagħmel referenza f’diversi partijiet tiegħu għall-pressjoni indebita (duress) li Ram Tumuluri qal li saritlu mill-Gvern biex kien imġiegħel jitrasferixxi l-isħma lil Steward Health Care fl-2017, xahar wara l-qtil ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Huwa evidenti wkoll mill-Kapitlu numru 9 tar-Rapport tal-NAO li Ram Tumuluri kien lest ikun whistleblower u jikxef attivitajiet illegali imwettqa minn uffiċjali pubbliċi Maltin u politiċi Maltin, basta jingħata d-debiti garanziji legali kontra passi kriminali.
Għalhekk, fid-dawl tal-gravità bla preċedent tal-konklużjonijiet tar-Rapport tal-NAO li ħareġ ilbieraħ u li jindika konġura kriminali ta’ organizzazzjoni kriminali għal ghemil frawdolenti, REPUBBLIKA titlob bil-qima lill-Maġistrat Inkwirenti sabiex joghgobha:
- Tieħu konjizzjoni immedjata u formali tal-istess Rapport,
- Tordna lill-Avukat Ġenerali biex tapplika l-artiklu 19(1) tal-Kap.326 tal-Liġijiet ta’ Malta fil-konfront ta’ individwi li l-Maġistrat Inkwirenti tara li jkunu vitali sabiex tinkiseb il-verità fuq l-involviment ta’ Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona u oħrajn li ħadu sehem f’dik li REPUBBLIKA kienet irreferiet fl-2019 fir-rikors promotur tagħha bħala att modern ta’ piraterija għad-dannu tal-poplu Malti, u
- Toħroġ dawk l-ordnijiet urġenti li huma neċessarji biex ma jintilfux iktar provi inkriminanti u sabiex l-atturi u awturi prinċipali f’din il-ħadma (li jinkludu lil Joseph Muscat, Chris Cardona, Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, u Ronald Mizzi), li m’hi xejn għajr organizzazzjoni kriminali (delitt ad hoc taht l-art.83A tal-Kap.9) fuq stil mafjuż ta’ tixħim, ħasil ta’ flus u frodi, u assocjazzjoni kriminali taħt l-artiklu 48A tal-Kap.9, ma jibqgħux jaħarbu l-Ġustizzja u jiġu arrestati immedjatament biex ikunu mressqa ‘l Qorti sabiex iwiegbu għal għemilhom, anke fid-dawl tal-fatt li uħud minnhom qed jippreparaw biex jaħarbu minn Malta.
Rikors iffirmat mill-Avv. Jason Azzopardi
