Court lifts €20 million freezing order on DF Advocates in Vitals case

In a first for the Vitals case, a Criminal Court has lifted a €20 million freezing order against DF Advocates.

Judge Edwina Grima dismissed the Attorney General’s appeal to convert the temporary freezing order into a permanent one and revoked the order completely.

In its decision, the Court said that “the law firm DF Advocates can never be found guilty of any crime”. The decree mentions that in order to be found criminally guilty you must have a company or a united body.

In this case, the law firm of DF Advocates does not fall under any of these categories.

The Court affirmed that the judicable persons are actually Jean Carl Farrugia and Kevin Deguara, where then, in the event of them being found guilty, a penalty would be imposed on them, even in the case of a pecuniary penalty, so that there can never be the conviction of DF Advocates as a legal person in itself.

Jean Carl Farrugia and Kevin Deguara are two of a number of individuals and companies facing charges related to the Vitals scandal, which saw three state hospitals privatised.

The deal was pushed forward by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his administration. It was later deemed null by a court.

This is the first freezing order that has been revoked in the Vitals case.

DF Advocates were represented by lawyers Franco Debono, Jonathan Thompson, Ezekiel Psaila.