Steward’s Private Intelligence Firm Sought ‘Pressure Points’ and ‘Vulnerabilities’ In Malta’s Government

By Julian Bonnici

Documents show a private intelligence firm sought details on the “business, political and personal” vulnerabilities of government officials directing proceedings against the concession provider.

A private intelligence firm hired by Steward Healthcare sought to identify the “pressure points” and “vulnerabilities” of individuals within the Maltese government directing proceedings against the hospital concession provider, both in official and unofficial capacities.

Documents seen by Amphora Media and the Times of Malta reveal that CT Group, a UK-based private intelligence firm, asked Steward to map out individuals, their political priorities, and their vulnerabilities “in business, political and personal terms” that they could “target”.

CT Group also requested information on the relationships between these officials and former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who has been charged over his role in the hospital concession deal, and whether those ties could “influence” their behaviour.

The firm sought detailed profiles of the parties involved, including their preferred outcomes and, crucially, what Steward could “offer” that would be “acceptable” to resolve the dispute.

It also asked Steward to outline weaknesses in the government’s position on the concession.

In a reply to questions sent, CT said its “position is clearly set out in our previous emails to Times of Malta, OCCRP, and Boston Globe, dated 14, 17, 21, and 28 June 2024, in response to assertions made and questions asked by them at that time.”

“We have nothing to add to what we said in those emails,” it said.

Joseph Muscat said he “would be more than open to give comments”, but due to a court order, he “is prevented from making any comment on issues relating to the Hospital’s concession.”

A previous investigation by OCCRP, the Boston Globe and the Times of Malta , supported by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, revealed that Steward paid over €6.5 million to private intelligence firms CT Group and Audere to conduct surveillance and disinformation operations against its critics.

The costs of this intelligence work were paid by Steward’s Malta subsidiary, which was largely funded by Maltese taxpayers.

It was coordinated by senior Steward executives who corresponded regularly with private spies, according to emails, encrypted messages, and financial records.

Steward executives prioritised paying these intelligence firms, which sometimes charged the company as much as $170,000 per month, even as bills for critical medical services in its U.S. hospitals went unpaid.

The investigation revealed how Steward corresponded with the intelligence firms about “false flag” operations against a critic who ran a financial research company that issued a negative report about Steward.

That critic was later spied on in his home and followed, according to surveillance reports in the possession of Audere obtained by OCCRP.

Audere also collected embarrassing personal information and photographs of a former Steward employee after Steward feared he would leak financial information to its auditor.

Steward had also engaged CT Group, to target then-Health Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne as their main “opponent” of its concession. It created a report alleging the minister had taken a large bribe, which was then circulated to journalists.

Fearne, who has himself been charged over the hospitals’ scandal, demanded a police investigation into the smear campaign.

Dallas-headquartered Steward Health Care was awarded a €2.1-billion Maltese government contract in 2018 to renovate and manage three public hospitals.

Although Fearne initially backed Steward taking over the contract from Vitals Global Healthcare in February 2018, the relationship appears to have soured thereafter. 

By 2021, senior Steward staff contemplated suing Fearne and Malta’s government in the US, where they planned to allege extortion and solicitation of bribes, a leaked email shows. 

No lawsuit followed, however, former Steward Malta director Armin Ernst appeared to have kept tabs on Fearne, and operations codenamed ‘Project Albacore’ and ‘Project Bluefin’ were launched, e-mails and documents show. 

In a December 2021 e-mail, Ernst flagged a media report claiming irregularities linked to the Foundation for Medical Services, which fell under Fearne and the Foundation’s former CEO, Carmen Ciantar’s remit. 

That same month, Steward directed its law firm, Quinn Emanuel, to hire CT Group, an intelligence firm whose staff includes the UK government’s former counter-terrorism chief. 

In July 2022, CT Group pledged to “deploy into the public domain information about the main opponent of the Client’s concession in Malta” in a commercial proposal obtained by OCCRP. The aim was to identify “improper” behaviour and leak it anonymously to Maltese media.

A Maltese court annulled Steward’s hospital concession in 2023, citing an audit that found “collusion between Steward and senior government officials or its agencies” and called the deal “fraudulent.

The inquiry led to corruption and money-laundering charges against Malta’s former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, who was arraigned in court in May alongside more than two dozen others, including Fearne, connected to the hospital deal. All have pleaded not guilty.

It took over the contract from Vitals Global Healthcare, which signed its 30-year concession in September 2015.

However,  journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia revealed months earlier that the government had already struck a deal with Oxley Capital Group, a Singaporean private investment firm, for the refurbishment of the Gozo and St Luke’s hospitals.

After acquiring an unredacted version of the contract, Times of Malta revealed that the government and VGH had signed a memorandum of understanding by February 2015, two months before the request for proposal was issued.

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