Two professionals who are facing charges related to the controversial Vitals inquiry have resigned from their most recent positions, WhosWho.mt can confirm.
In recent days, headlines have been dominated by the news that a number of politicians, civil servants, and businesses are facing charges related to the Vitals scandal, a deal to privatise three state hospitals that saw around €400 million in public funds being spent. The deal, pushed by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his administration, was later annulled by court and is now engulfed in legal proceedings.
The scandal has already prompted the resignation of Chris Fearne from his position as Deputy Prime Minister and Government Minister, together with the removal of Joseph Rapa from the Board of Directors at APS Bank, with both individuals facing charges. In addition to this, DF Consultancy Services Ltd, owned by two lawyers also facing charges of fraud in relation to the case, has had an agreement with a financial services and fund management firm terminated. Additionally, author Mark Camilleri on Saturday reported that David Meli, who served as a legal representative for Steward Health Care – the company which took over the deal from Vitals – and forms part of the first batch of individuals and companies facing charges, in his case related to money laundering and bribery, has voluntarily resigned from law firm Michael Kyprianou.
In addition to this, Deborah Anne Chappell and Bradley Gatt, both lawyers, have now resigned from their positions at their respective firms.
Dr Chappell is the only woman charged by prosecutors in connection with the Vitals case so far, and is also reportedly subject to the largest freezing order filed, with up to €42 million of her assets being frozen.
She is accused of money laundering, and will face charges of misappropriation, document fraud, and of having actively participated in criminal activity and a criminal association.
Muscat Mizzi Advocates, the law firm which Dr Chappell had been employed with as Partner and is not referenced in the Vitals case, confirmed to WhosWho.mt that she has “temporarily stepped down from her role.”
WhosWho.mt understands that the firm is supporting her during what can be described as a difficult time.
Dr Gatt, who is facing only one criminal charge (fraud) related to the Vitals scandal, and is understood to have only been a peripheral part of the deal, has also resigned.
At the time when Vitals came to Malta, Dr Gatt had worked for DF Advocates, the legal firm engaged by companies within the healthcare group. Since then, he moved to other law firms, most recently Sammut Legal, which is in no way connected or mentioned in reference to the Vitals scandal.
Contacted by WhosWho.mt, Sammut Legal stated that Dr Gatt has since tendered his resignation from the position.
Both Dr Chappell and Dr Gatt, and lawyer David Meli, have been removed from the respective law firms’ websites, as is standard practice when someone leaves a company.
Additionally, while there are over 20 facing charges – many of whom are searchable on LinkedIn – the aforementioned three have also vanished from the professional networking platform, with their profiles no longer viewable. Indeed, when searching on Google, their profiles appear in the results, and when clicking on their LinkedIn profile, an error appears saying the pages do not exist.
Their former employers have also removed any mentions of the individuals from their social media. Similar to their accounts, certain posts can come up when searched for on Google, yet upon clicking on them, the same error is viewed.
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