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Lawyer Jason Azzopardi claimed on Sunday that the Prime Minister ordered that a person of trust not be brought to court in connection with the welfare fraud scandal, despite an investigation by the police’s anti-fraud office.
The scandal saw hundreds of people obtain forged documents and use them to claim monthly severe disability benefits, costing taxpayers up to €5 million.
Azzopardi, speaking at the monthly commemoration of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, recalled that Roger Agius faced charges for carrying out a massive fraud over many years. He told the court An official in the secretariat of Minister Michael Falzon, who subsequently denied any knowledge of the fraud, assured him they would stay out of trouble as long as the minister remained in office.
Agius’s lawyer told the court the officer was Mark Calleja, a trusted individual hired by Falzon.
Azzopardi said Sunday that Police Chief Angelo Gafa and Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg knew what was going on. He claimed Michael Falzone also knew, but that person was protected because Abela told the police chief who should and should not be arraigned.
Azzopardi said the Labor government was strong with the weak but weak with the strong. The Labor government accused low-income people involved in the scandal, but the people who allegedly planned the entire scandal, with thousands of dollars of money changing hands, were protected.
Michael Falzon was told what was going on more than a year ago, but he did nothing. Robert Abela stepped in and instructed the man being questioned by police not to be arraigned, Azzopardi said. He added that if he was charged, he could provide more details in court.
He maintained that the law should not take sides or be partial to any party.
Earlier, in his speech, Azzopardi also talked about the authoritative investigation report on the government’s transfer of management rights of three public hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare in 2015.
He said the report was heart-wrenching, revealing that public funds meant for the health sector were diverted by corrupt elements for personal gain, even diverting funds meant for the purchase of cancer treatment machines.
He said the then Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, was aware of rampant embezzlement by Ram Tumuluri, the face of Vitals Global Healthcare. A due diligence report was drawn up but instead of handing it over to the police, Schembri used it to blackmail Tumuluri out of the organisation, paving the way for Steward Healthcare.
For example, the report showed that millions of dollars of public funds were illegally used to acquire companies and repay loans with interest rates as high as 40%.
Public funds intended for Malta’s health sector were also used to set up or renovate offshore offices, pay for Ram Tumuluri’s U.S. legal fees and his regular travel around the world.
Armin Ernst, Vitals CEO and later Steward, received a salary of €700,000. Funds were also given to Shaukat Ali, who is believed to have been secretly running Vitals. He gave himself €80,000 a month and at one point even €400,000 a month for no apparent reason.
All this was done to the detriment of the Maltese government, yet the State Defender did not appear in court as a representative of the injured party.
Azzopardi questioned why Prime Minister Robert Abela did not revoke the Maltese citizenship granted to Shawkat Ali. After all, he had taken similar action against a whistleblower on the scandal of Algeria issuing Maltese visas.
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