A campaign to smear ex-health minister Chris Fearne with "fake" corruption claims was funded by Steward Health Care, The Times of Malta reports.

The newspaper refers to leaked corporate records, and states that the campaign was part of a wider operation that had been authorised by Steward to target perceived opponents of the company.

The records were obtained by the OCCRP and passed on to the Times of Malta as well as the Boston Globe.

Last year, the former health minister and Carmen Ciantar, who was his former Chief of Staff, had hit out at 'dark forces' that were unknown behind what they said were 'fake claims', including allegations of an illicit payment worth millions.

Times of Malta reports that while Fearne had originally backed Steward taking over the hospitals deal, things quickly soured, where Steward had complained about government payments being held up, and eventually Steward even considered suing Malta in the USA, it reports.

 "In a December 2021 e-mail, (Steward Malta CEO Armin) Ernst flagged a media report claiming irregularities linked to the Foundation for Medical Services, which fell under Fearne and Ciantar's remit," the newspaper said.

The newspaper, among other things, states that Steward Malta that same month had directed its law firm to hire a London based intelligence firm. In July 2022, that intelligence firm "pledged to 'deploy into the public domain information about the main opponent of the Client's concession in Malta,' in a commercial proposal obtained by OCCRP. The aim was to identify 'improper' behaviour and leak it anonymously to Maltese media," the Times of Malta reports.

The identity of the main opponent was not revealed, however the Times reports that later in the year, the intelligence company passed on an alleged "bank wire transfer record showing €3.2 million moving to an account held by Carmen Ciantar's daughter."

The payment was allegedly made by Igor Levitin's former business partner. Levitin is an advisor to Vladimir Putin. The Times also reports that an internal document made the allegation that Fearne used his position to lobby for a Maltese Passport to be issued to Levitin's brother. In October 2022, that information was passed on by a Steward official to the company's law firm. Later, documents prepared by the intelligence firm as well as the wire transfer were shared with Matthew Caruana Galizia, the director of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, through an intermediary, the Times of Malta reports.

"Caruana Galizia contacted the Austrian bank named in the record and the former business partner of Levitin, who purportedly sent the funds. Both said it was a forgery. Sources told Times of Malta that an investigation into the claims by local authorities was unable to uncover any proof to substantiate the purported €3.2 million transfer," the Times of Malta reports.

Caruana Galizia had published a blog post debunking the claims and highlighted the attempted disinformation campaign.

But the alleged transfer record eventually surfaced elsewhere in foreign media, including in Ukraine.

The Times of Malta also reports that it wasn't clear whether Steward or its law firm or the intelligence company knew the document was fake. OCCRP reports that the intelligence firm said that allegations it handled fabricated documents were not true; and the law firm said that it “has no knowledge of — and certainly played no role in — any of the alleged activities you describe.”