By Julia Dowling

Copyright maltatoday

The court hearing challenges to the freezing orders issued on the back of the Vitals Global Healthcare fraud case resumed on Wednesday with cross-examinations of foreign forensic experts, who admitted that although they were appointed in their individual capacity, they later began billing through companies they had incorporated in 2021.

Defence lawyers suggested the timing raised doubts about the transparency of their role in compiling data that fed into the Harbinson report, a report at the heart of ongoing legal challenges to €30 million freezing orders against individuals linked to the hospital’s concession.

The court turned its focus onto the role of foreign forensic experts, with prosecutors questioning why companies were incorporated midway through their appointments and how data was passed on to the inquiry coordinator, Harbinson.

Witness Alan Heath explained he had been tasked with collecting information on individuals of interest and passing this on to Harbinson and the inquiring magistrate.

Heath said the list of names came directly from the magistrate, with his role limited to research and extraction of data. He stressed that he did not rely on Maltese media and had “no access” to news portals when compiling the lists.

When asked about his payments, Heath admitted that he had initially billed directly but later routed payments through his UK-registered company, AH Training Solutions Ltd, which had been incorporated in 2021.

He said this was done for tax purposes, even though the inquiry appointment had been made in his personal capacity.

David Wright testified his role was to search data extracted from devices seized during the investigation, including laptops and documents from various offices, among them those of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. He confirmed working under the coordination of Harbinson and said he also worked with Gary Edward from Ansek.

Wright admitted he had also incorporated a company, Kircon Fraud Management Ltd, on 1 September 2021, through which payments for his services were channelled. Like Heath, he argued that although the company was paid, the work was carried out by him personally.

He also confirmed having been asked to review a report by another forensic expert, Viroslava (MIRA), but said it contained “nothing new” to him.

Lawyers noted both Heath and Wright had been nominated for their individual expertise yet chose to set up companies within weeks of each other during the course of their engagements. They pointed out that Harbinson himself had also set up a company shortly after concluding his appointment on the inquiry, suggesting a pattern of experts billing through private vehicles despite being appointed in their personal capacity.

Another witness, Gary Edward, testified that he worked as an Ansek employee and was responsible for overseeing the extraction and processing of data before it was passed to Harbinson Forensics.

He emphasised that he did not analyse the content of the data, only verified that it had been processed correctly on a central server. Edward said he received information from Keith Schembri as well as some data from former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, but insisted his role was purely technical.

He saw a draft of Harbinson’s report but did not sign or see the final version submitted to the magistrate.

The registrar of the Criminal Court also took the stand, confirming that Kircon was linked to Wright, while providing addresses for several of the companies involved.

The testimonies highlight the prosecution’s concern over the blurred line between personal appointments and corporate billing structures, as well as the reliability of the forensic chain that fed into the Harbinson report.

Defence lawyers, meanwhile, have consistently argued that the report should not be considered in the ongoing challenge to the €30 million freezing orders imposed on individuals linked to the Vitals and Steward concession.

AG lawyers Francesco Refalo, Rebecca Spiteri and Shelby Aquilina, together with inspector Wayne Rodney Borg are prosecuting.

Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Alex Scerri Herrera, Jessica Formosa, and Jeannine Depasquale represented Bhatti and Ali.

Lawyers Gianella De Marco and Charles Mercieca represented David J Meli.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti and Franco Debono represented Alfred Camilleri.

Lawyers Chris Cilia and Arthur Azzopardi represented MTrace.

Lawyer Jason Grima represented Christopher Spiteri.

Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell represented Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna.

Judge Edwina Grima presided over the case.