Former health minister Chris Fearne, Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna and others pleaded not guilty in a court sitting that was later annulled due a ‘defective notification’ of one of the parties charged
Fearne, Scicluna plead not guilty in annulled sitting
22:30 | The “real deal”?
Former health minister Chris Fearne simply ignored Michael Kaden’s question on whether he regrets having called Steward (Health Care) the “real deal”…
NEWZ.mt says Goodnight!
22:10 | Case adjourned
The Court finds that Carl Farrugia, and the brothers Kennet and Kevin Deguara were summoned in their name and not as representatives of DF Advocates.
This technically means that one of the charged entities itself has not been notified for these proceedings. Therefore, the case is being adjourned to June.
Michael Kaden
22:00 | We’ve lost count of the suspensions
…as we receive reports from inside that there is another one.
Lawyer Debono said he will be requesting the present proceedings be declared null, as “nobody is here representing DF Advocates”.
Michael Kaden (via Edwina Brincat)
21:20 | Violin terrorism
Most journalists who were reporting from outside the Courts building have left for a break or just called it a day. Those who remain here, trying to stay strong, are being terrorised by a violinist who has been playing the same few songs over and over again. Please send us food, booze, and an entertainer with a 4-hour repertoire!
Michael Kaden
21:06 | Second suspension within an hour
The magistrate suspends the sitting again, for the prosecution to decide on how it wants to proceed.
Before, the court answered “when we’re done, we’re done” in reply to lawyer De Marco’s question “it’s 9pm, what time will we finish?”
Discussions have revolved around the law firm DF Advocates and technicalities surrounding the firm’s legal status.
MaltaToday’s court reporter Matthew Agius says the only thing which appears to be certain at this stage is that “we are in for a long night”.
Michael Kaden (via Monique Agius and MaltaToday)
20:40 | Sitting might go on until 1am
19:50 | All accused plead not guilty
Chris Fearne, 61, from Tarxien, surgeon, pleads ‘not guilty’
Edward Scicluna, 77, Naxxar, Central Bank Governor, pleads not guilty after some technical problems;
Ronald Mizzi, 41, iż-Żebbuġ, permanent secretary, pleads not guilty;
Alfred Camilleri, 64, Mosta, pensioner, pleads not guilty;
Joseph Rapa, 57, Xagħra, pleads not guilty;
Kenneth Deguara, 44, San Ġwann, employee, pleads not guilty;
Kevin Deguara, 47, San Ġwann, lawyer, pleads not guilty;
Jean Carl Farrugia, 48, Siġġiewi, lawyer, pleads not guilty;
Deborah Anne Chappell, 37, Valletta, lawyer, pleads not guilty;
Bradley Gatt, 43, Għargħur, lawyer, pleads not guilty;
Aron Mifsud Bonnici, 50, Ħ’Attard, lawyer, pleads not guilty;
James Camenzuli, 53, Marsaskala, engineer, pleads not guilty;
Manuel Castagna, 50, San Ġwann, accountant, pleads not guilty;
Robert Borg, 50, Naxxar, auditor, pleads not guilty.
Michael Kaden (via Monique Agius)
19:30 | Accused not examined yet
“Over eight hours into the sitting, and two hours after the charges were read out, the accused have still not been examined”, Newsbook’s Monique Agius notes.
She explains what such examination consists of: the court will be asking each of the accused their name and surname, age, place of birth and abode, their trade, profession or calling, the name and surname of their parents and whether their parents are alive or dead; and ask them what they are replying to the charge.
Michael Kaden
18:35 | Cross-examination request rejected
The court is in session again and the magistrate delivers his rejection of the defence’s request to cross-examinate the prosecution.
Michael Kaden (via Monique Agius)
18:10 | Breaktime
In the last seven hours, our colleagues in court have heard and reported a lot of legalese.
The magistrate suspended the session again to deliberate whether to reject the request to cross-examine the prosecutors as demanded by the defence.
Michael Kaden (via court blogs)
17:45 | ‘The mafia layers of the grandest theft’
Here’s a brand-new episode of MANUEL QAL with Manuel Delia.
“It is not just the political class or the civil service who are accused. Add to them the entrepreneurial class and the professional class. And don’t forget the police who refused to investigate despite all the publicly known evident. This inquiry only happened because Repubblika took the risk of insisting it happens. The police stayed in bed”, says the activist and author.
17:15 | Charges
Prosecutor Rebekah Spiteri starts reading out the charges as the following suspects are now being formally accused:
Chris Fearne, 61, from Tarxien;
Edward Scicluna, 77, Naxxar;
Ronald Mizzi, 41, iż-Żebbuġ;
Alfred Camilleri, 64, Mosta;
Joseph Rapa, 57, Xagħra;
Kenneth Deguara, 44, Msida;
Kevin Deguara, 47, San Ġwann;
Jean Carl Farrugia, 48, Siġġiewi;
Deborah Anne Chappell, 37, Valletta;
Bradley Gatt, 43, Għargħur;
Aron Mifsud Bonnici, 50, Ħ’Attard;
James Camenzuli, 53, Marsaskala;
Manuel Castagna, 50, San Ġwann;
Robert Borg, 49, Naxxar;
Kenneth Deguara, Kevin Deguara and Jean Carl Farrugia are also being charged as representatives of DF Corporate Advisory Limited.
All officials are charged with fraud, fraudulent gains to the detriment of government.
Fearne, Scicluna, Mizzi, Rapa, Camilleri and Chappell are charged with misappropriation.
Chappell, Kevin and Kenneth Deguara , Farrugia and DF Advocates are charged with money laundering.
Chappell, Mifsud Bonnici, Castagna, Kevin Deguara and Farrugia are charged with actively participating in an organisation set up for criminal activity.
Chappell, Deguara, Kenneth Farrugia are also charged with document fraud and falsification of records for VAT purposes.
The three permanent secretaries are charged with allegedly committing crimes they were duty bound to prevent.
The prosecution asked the court to order restitution of all misappropriated funds upon conviction.
The requested freezing orders:
Chappell €40 million, Kevin Deguara: €20 million; Kenneth Deguara: €14 million; Farrugia €20 million; DF Advocates €20 million.
In case of conviction, the accused can forfeit their professional warrants.
All prosecuting officers confirm the charges on oath.
Michael Kaden (via Monique Agius, Edwina Brincat)
16:13 | Request rejected
The court rejected the request to delay the reading out of the charges until all the evidence is handed over. Lawyer Franco Debono said he will request a constitutional reference as soon as he has a copy of the decree.
14:35 | Sitting suspended
…for a break until 3.30pm.
13:10 | ‘The most surreal day’
“Tuesday was by far the most surreal day I’ve ever witnessed in Malta’s contemporary political history”, says Julian Delia in his comment ‘Malta’s Tangentopoli’ published this morning.
12:20 | A 20-minute break
…for the lawyers to compare the chargesheets and the charges which have been substituted, as the court upholds the request to register the new charges.
Michael Kaden (via Monique Agius)
12:05 | Defence wants ‘new’ chargesheet registered
The defence insists that due to the prosecution’s request of a substitution of the chargesheet, these charges must be formally filed in the registry of this court. This follows the prosecution’s decision to drop charges against DF Corporate Advisory, which have been filed erroneously. Prosecutor Francesco Refalo says there is no obligation for the charges to go through the registry, as both the case and the charges remain the same.
Michael Kaden
11:55 | Julian is live with Repubblika
In a brief live link with Repubblika, Julian Delia discussed what it was like to report live from outside court during the first two hearings of the historic hospitals concession case.
The journalist spoke about the glaring information gap between Labour Party supporters and media personnel who were present. Plenty of accusations against independent journalists who were doing their job were made. Strangely, it also led to moments of discussion when party supporters were asked to comment on ongoing proceedings.
Overall, the journalist explained, it seemed quite clear that the Labour goverrnment is all too wiling to use the supporter base it continuously lies to as a buffer for the long list of alleged crimes committed by its most high-profile former and current representatives in history.
11:40 | Gafà and Buttigieg absent
Newsbook’s Monique Agius notes that “both Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg and Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà have not been seen in court once again”, despite this being a high profile case.
Michael Kaden
10:45 | Chris Fearne arrives
In a brief comment given to the press shortly before entering court, former health minister Chris Fearne stated that he had no issue with resigning from his Cabinet position after he was named in the Vitals inquiry.
Fearne also referred to his decision to ask the National Audit Office to investigate the hospitals concession, a seven year long investigation which was instrumental in the process which led to the court case that led to the revocation of the deal.
Shortly after Fearne gave his comment, a handful of his supporters of the former deputy prime minister formed a cordon around him as he began walking towards court, preventing journalists from asking further questions about his statement.
Shortly after Fearne entered court, a brief argument between journalists and members of the crowd ensued, though tension dissipated rather quickly when supporters decided to give a comment to the press instead.
Julian Delia
11:00 | Bonġu!
Good Morning! We’re back in front of the Courts building in Valletta. Former health minister Chris Fearne and Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna are to be arraigned today. Julia Delia (The Critical Angle project) and Michael Kaden (NEWZ.mt) are reporting.
Michael Kaden
