Accused in Vitals case claims he was slapped with two freezing orders for the same crime
Giuseppe Fabrizio Musarella is accused of money laundering, fraud and making false declarations to a public authority in connection with the purchase of a cyclotron machine through Mtrace
Lawyers representing an Italian man charged with various crimes involving Vitals Global Healthcare have told a court that he had been hit by two separate freezing orders for the same alleged crime.
Court proceedings involving various figures tied to the Vitals Global Healthcare scandal continued on Wednesday, before magistrate Leonard Caruana.
Giuseppe Fabrizio Musarella stands accused of money laundering, fraud and making false declarations to a public authority in connection with the purchase of a cyclotron machine through Mtrace, a company that had just been set up, and which was subsequently sold to Vitals.
Lawyer Veronique Dalli raised concerns over the imposition of two freezing orders on her client’s assets. In a single case, Musarella is accused both in his personal capacity, as well as on behalf of his company, Taomac Ltd, of laundering €62,500. Two separate freezing orders had been issued, each for the whole amount, effectively freezing double the alleged criminal proceeds.
Dalli, assisting Musarella together with lawyer Dean Hili, questioned the fairness of the freezing orders, because of this fact.
Dalli emphasised that the purpose of a freezing order is not to indiscriminately seize all assets, but rather to prevent the proceeds of illegal activity being dispersed, should a guilty verdict be reached. "The amount is not €62,500 times two," argued Dalli, adding that recent judgments had limited the scope of freezing orders to the amounts derived from the alleged crime. In the past, such orders were used to freeze the defendant's assets in their entirety, but the courts have since declared this interpretation to be unjust and introduced a cap accordingly.
During the session, Dalli also pointed to a previous case involving Pilatus Bank’s CFO Claudeanne Sant Fournier, where the Attorney General’s (AG) request for a freezing order was dismissed. In that case, the court found no evidence to suggest the defendant had benefited from or was involved in illegal activity, reinforcing her argument that freezing orders must be proportional.
“We should not crucify the defendant…with double the amount that needs to be secured,” the lawyer said.
Prosecutors Francesco Refalo, Rebekah Spiteri, and Shelby Aquilina countered, arguing that a garnishee order had originally been issued and later superseded by the freezing order.
Spiteri noted that the law requires any objection on the amount of a freezing order to be made within seven days before the Criminal Court, meaning Mosarella’s application was time-barred. She further argued that since the prosecution cannot guarantee the success of the separate case, it was essential to safeguard the full amount.
Dalli expressed satisfaction at hearing the prosecution confirm that the amount in question was indeed €62,500 and that it had already been preserved.
The court will give a ruling on the request.
Inquiry expert unable to testify due to Covid infection
In the separate, but related cases being heard by magistrate Caruana on Wednesday against Asad Shaukat Ali and Wasay Bhatti, a financial crime expert who had assisted the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals deal had been due to testify, but was unable to do so after testing positive for COVID-19.
The possibility of video-conferencing was raised by the prosecution but Ali’s lawyer Shazoo Ghaznavi said he would prefer to hear the witness in person.
Consequently, the court agreed to adjourn the case to November.
The affected cases deal with payroll company Accutor AG and Vitals Global Healthcare’s successors, Steward Healthcare International.
Accutor is under scrutiny for its alleged involvement in receiving €3.6 million from Steward Healthcare during a critical period when Steward took over the 30-year concession of three Maltese state hospitals from Vitals Global Healthcare.
Accutor AG is run by lawyer Wasay Bhatti, who also reportedly assigned a consultancy contract to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
The firm’s transactions with Steward Healthcare are being closely examined, particularly in light of the consultancy contract assigned to Muscat, whose involvement in the hospitals deal has already attracted significant controversy in Malta.
In the ongoing legal proceedings, lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Alex Scerri Herrera, Jessica Formosa, and Jeannine Depasquale are representing Bhatti and Ali.
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