Where was ‘Bobby’ when Rome was burning? l Frank Camilleri

The Vitals inquiry: 78 boxes of evidence, a 1,200-page report, numerous ministers, permanent secretaries, subordinates and professionals, all put under some form of blocked funds status; all accused of money laundering, corruption and corrupt practices and all indicted to stand trial for fraud, money laundering or conspiracy. 

All have been put under formal criminal charges and all are freely roaming our streets as if nothing is happening. 

And yet, surprise surprise, the name of our beloved prime minister, Robert Abela, is nowhere to be seen or mentioned. 

Let us start from the beginning when the now famous scum bag Ram Tumuluri was introduced to the government scheme of selling our three public hospitals to outside sources. We can then go on to the next step when Tumuluri ceded the acquired hospital concession to Steward Health Care in a sham contract but which the then health minister Chris Fearne hailed with some extraordinary enthusiasm and labelled it as ‘real deal’. 

We can continue the process up to where funds were being passed to Steward Health Care with full Cabinet approval - funds which were also sanctioned by parliament under block partisan Labour votes to the tune of €60m, €70m and €80m, and which would have continued to rollover for some 30 years had the Opposition not managed to take the lid off this organised heist of public funds.  

During all this fraudulent process, Prime Minister Robert Abela was there – either as consultant to the Cabinet when the whole plot was being hatched under Joseph Muscat’s premiership and even worse as Prime Minister. It is an established fact that there would have been no document signed or funds transferred without his acknowledgement and blessing. 

I bring this up because of the wording adopted by Magistrate Leonard Scicluna when determining that Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna should stand trial. In the magistrate’s own words: ‘The Ministers failed (among other things) to object to Cabinet decisions on the hospital deal over the years.” 

I think these are unbelievable words considering that some of these Cabinet decisions were being chaired by Prime Minister Robert Abela himself. To my knowledge there is no record of him ever objecting to the decisions in question, particularly those in which money was voted for the concession. Of course, how can he? 

So, the question begs: Why is Robert Abela not under indictment as all the others? 

Another part of the magistrate’s ruling reads: ‘All defendants in their various roles appear to have contributed in one way or another for funds to be paid to the hospital consortium.’ 

But weren’t the defendants operating on the pretext of decisions approved by Cabinet? 

At least since 2020, the Gran Maestro directing all this in Cabinet was of course Prime Minister Robert Abela. So, why is Abela not under indictment? 

I find it surprising that no one seems to have picked on this point, not even inquiring Magistrate Gabriella Vella, who carried out the investigation into the hospitals concession and on whose findings the prosecutions were based. Despite 78 boxes of evidence and millions of euros spent on the inquiry, the magistrate could not bring herself to utter one single word in relation to Prime Minister Robert Abela. 

The court has concluded that Chris Fearne should be put under indictment for failing to object to Cabinet decisions – decisions, which were taken with Prime Minister Robert Abela present. 

But of course, imagine the devastating consequences for Malta’s reputation worldwide had the magisterial inquiry requested the prosecution of the current Prime Minister on the basis of aiding and abetting fraud and money laundering activities on the same premise as that adopted for Fearne and Scicluna. 

If it was a crime for the latter two, why should it not have been a crime for the former? 

In my view, the report of the magisterial inquiry by Magistrate Gabriella Vella is in this respect faulty.  

I know that the Magistrate Gabriella Vella is not in a position to reply or give explanations. But I would expect Adrian Delia, Bernard Grech and even the Prime Minister himself to explain, if there is anything to explain, why two Cabinet members should face the music and not the rest.

Frank Camilleri is a company director