As promised last Sunday, the Nationalist Party on Tuesday filed a court case against the State Advocate for not taking any action to recover the “defrauded” funds paid out by the government for the running of three hospitals it had passed on to private companies.

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech and Nationalist MP Adrian Delia are arguing that the State Advocate, as “the last man standing in our constitutional system” is not only empowered but also duty-bound to take action against present and past government officials involved in the deal. 

The legal proceedings were filed before the First Hall, Civil Court, with the PN asking for the matter to be treated urgently.

Addressing journalists, Grech said the PN is seeking to have the court declare that the State Advocate should not have to rely on the prime minister to initiate proceedings to reclaim the money. 

"The State Advocate represents the entire state and not just the government and Robert Abela,” Grech said.

The Opposition’s argument is that the State Advocate has not only the power but also the duty to act. 

The 2015 deal which saw three hospitals - St Luke’s, Karin Grech and the Gozo General hospitals - passed on to the private sector was annulled by a court in February, and confirmed on appeal in October.

The running of the three hospitals was initially handed over to Vitals Global Healthcare was later taken over by Steward Health Care.

The original judgment had described the contract as fraudulent while the Appeals Court ruled that there had been collusion.

Delia said that following the courts’ decision to cancel the contracts, the PN had asked for political responsibility to be shouldered, for the money spent on the deal to be reclaimed and for all those who had done wrong to face justice - but so far this has not happened. 

“These are logical and normal requests that in a normal country would not be coming from the Opposition,” he said. The is resisting attempts to reclaim the money because senior government officials had been complicit in perpetuating the fraud, he added.

 “We are turning to the autonomy of the courts because the prime minister has seized the independence of the State Advocate as well,” Delia added.

Grech and Delia had demanded a meeting with Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa a day after the appeals court ruling, but they were told that the police would not be taking action until a magisterial inquiry is concluded.

The PN also filed a motion in Parliament for the government to recover the €400 million which were passed on to the hospital administrators, with the government replying that it was seeking legal redress through the International Chamber of Commerce.

Grech and Delia also filed a judicial protest against the Police Commissioner, the State Advocate and the Attorney General asking them to take action against the fraudulent deal. The three state authorities, in their reply, said that they were not empowered to take the action the PN was asking of them. 

Lawyers Edward DeBono and Nicholas DeBono signed the application. 

Labour Party statement

The Labour Party, in reply, said that when the PN says no action was taken it is lying.

The government has taken action in an international arbitration court and has also taken legal steps against Steward Health Care. It is also incorrect to say that the country paid €400 million and got nothing in return.

Nationalist Party statement

In a counter reply, the Nationalist Party said the PL found the time to protect the interests of those who were accomplices in the €400 million fraud, but did not find the time to protect the interests of the Maltese people.

This is why the PN felt compelled to take legal action for the courts of law to authorise the State Attorney to take all the necessary steps to bring back the money. The Labour government has not done anything in this regard, the PN said.