A controversial Indian-Canadian businessman whose company has recently signed a Rs2,800-crore deal to supply e-buses to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) is facing fresh allegations of corruption \u2013 involving Malta\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne\u2019s office.
\nLeaked documents show that a company linked to Sri Ram Tumuluri, the CEO of UK-based Causis Group, made several undeclared payments to a senior Maltese official. The payments are linked to a deal in 2015 when Sri Ram Tumuluri\u2019s firm, Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), won a privatisation tender to manage three hospitals in Malta, despite having no relevant experience. The hospitals are St. Luke\u2019s, Karin Grech and Gozo.
\nThe controversial takeover of Malta\u2019s state hospitals has now taken an extraordinary further twist, with leaked banked transfers showing a series of suspicious payments to the chief political advisor of Malta\u2019s health minister Chris Fearne.
\nCarmen Ciantar received a total of \u20ac443,500 Euros from Gozo International Medicare Ltd \u2013 part of the VGH group \u2013 in less than four months.
\nThe money came from the firm\u2019s account at the Dubai-headquartered Emirates NBD Bank. It then transferred a \u20ac750,000 \u201cloan repayment\u201d into an account at Bordier & Cie Geneva, a Swiss private bank, registered to a Panamanian entity, Glotal Finance Inc., which also referenced Ciantar. The first of the initial payments, described as travel expenses reimbursements by Ciantar, came six weeks before VGH was granted a 30-year concession to run St. Luke\u2019s, Karin Grech, and Gozo hospitals.
\nAt the time of the transfers, Gozo International Medicare was one of several offshore companies at the heart of the complex secretive ownership structure of VGH. Transaction reference numbers provided in the leaked banking tranche indicate there were at least 15 invoices submitted to Gozo International Medicare by Ciantar \u2013 dating between October 6, 2015, and February 25, 2016. Carmen Ciantar is listed on LinkedIn as CEO at Foundation for Medical Services, a government entity which manages public healthcare across Malta. In a statement on its official website, Ciantar states that the foundation has a \u201czero tolerance approach towards any form of bribery.\u201d She is also his chief of staff at the health ministry but that role is unpaid.
\nShe was first put on the public payroll as CEO of utility firm ARMS Ltd in 2013 by Fearne\u2019s disgraced predecessor Konrad Mizzi.
\nCiantar is one of Malta\u2019s highest paid officials, after she was given a \u20ac163,000 Euros a year package by Fearne himself \u2013 in a process which the country\u2019s auditor general described as \u201cirregular.\u201d In July 2017 it was revealed that Ciantar had been seen in the foundation\u2019s offices since the previous May, because she had been working full-time on Fearne\u2019s election campaigns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A controversial Indian-Canadian businessman whose company has recently signed a Rs2,800-crore deal to supply e-buses to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) is facing fresh allegations of corruption \u2013 involving Malta\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne\u2019s office. Leaked documents show that a company linked to Sri Ram Tumuluri, the CEO of UK-based Causis Group, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-334563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n