Compilation of evidence continues in Vitals fraud charges against former ministers
Compilation of evidence continues against former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne, Central Bank governor Edward Scicluna and 13 other defendants facing charges over the fraudulent hospitals concession to Vitals Global Healthcare
Magistrate Leonard Caruana will hear a number of witnesses testify today, as the compilation of evidence against former deputy prime minister Chris Fearne, Central Bank governor Edward Scicluna and 13 other defendants who are facing charges over the fraudulent private hospitals’ concession to Vitals Global Healthcare.
In a decree issued after the previous sitting, on July 24, the court ruled that there was a prima facie case to be heard against the accused, paving the way for them to be indicted and tried before the Criminal Court.
Among the witnesses listed for today’s sitting is former economy minister Chris Cardona, who testified yesterday in the parallel criminal proceedings against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
On the witness stand yesterday, Cardona appeared to distance himself from the Memorandum of Understanding which he had signed with Vitals in his ministerial capacity.
He told the court that he had not read the document before signing it and had only done so in preparation for his testimony before the National Audit Office. When pressed by the court, Cardona said: “I was the minister responsible for Malta Enterprise. They asked me to sign it and I signed it.”
But later that same afternoon, Cardona took to Facebook to accuse the press of maliciously distorting his testimony, despite it being reported in real time.
Also expected to testify are several forensic accounting experts, who had been appointed to assist the magisterial inquiry into the hospitals deal.
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