Keith Schembri demands investigation into Vitals inquiry experts' possible misconduct

Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri has filed a criminal complaint with the Commissioner of Police, calling for a full investigation into the actions of several court-appointed experts involved in the Vitals inquiry and other criminal cases.

The criminal complaint filed claims that although these experts were personally appointed by the Maltese courts, payments were made through a UK company, Harbinson Forensics Ltd, rather than directly to the individuals.

Schembri, according to the inquiry, is one of the most prominent players involved in the fraudulent Vitals deal.

The UK-based company was used to issue invoices to the Maltese courts for work carried out by these experts, who had been appointed in their personal capacity. Court records show that over €20 million was paid for their work. However, the experts themselves allegedly received only small portions of that money, while the company kept a significant amount, which raised suspicions of possible overcharging, hidden commissions, and inflated billing.

The criminal complaint also alleges that several experts set up UK companies to handle payments for tax reasons. Some companies are now being liquidated or closed down, which increases the risk of evidence being lost or destroyed. 

The complaint also claims that there are inconsistencies in affidavits, refusals to testify, and reconstructed or duplicate invoices which further suggests potential fraudulent conduct. 

Keith Schembri is arguing that the same experts who accuse others of misusing public funds may themselves have caused multi-million-euro losses to the Maltese state. 

Thus, he is calling for a criminal investigation into possible offences committed by the experts such as fraud and theft by deceit, forgery and falsification of documents, false declarations to public authorities, corruption, perjury, money laundering and other tax-related crimes. 

The criminal complaint stresses that the alleged misconduct should be investigated urgently to protect the integrity of the justice system and prevent the destruction of evidence such as bank records, emails, and accounting data.

The complaint further states that Schembri’s team holds documents supporting their claims. 

In addition to the criminal complaint, Schembri also filed a judicial protest against the Court Services Agency, attaching the same complaint and requesting the Agency to investigate and take appropriate action. 

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The complaint was filed through Schembri’s lawyers, Mark Vassallo, Edward Gatt and Shaun Zammit.