A private intelligence firm paid by Steward Healthcare sought information on the “business, political and personal” vulnerabilities of certain government officials involved with the hospitals concession.
The “target” was any government member “directing proceedings against Steward”, both “administratively/officially” and “discreetly in a background role”.
Steward took over a government concession to run the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo public hospitals in 2018, in a since annulled deal.
New documents seen by Times of Malta and Amphora Media reveal how CT Group, a UK-based private intelligence firm, sought information on “any pressure points that we can target in the campaign to increase pressure” on such government officials.
Information was also sought on the relationships between these officials and ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat, and how these relationships could “influence” their behaviour.
According to the intelligence document, information was also sought on Muscat’s “precise role in the concession” as well as his past links with Vitals Global Healthcare, the original winners of the government healthcare contract.
The encrypted document, titled ‘Malta intelligence requirements’, was dated December 2021, close to two years after Muscat’s resignation from government.
Chris Fearne was one of the prime targets
It was circulated by CT Group to then Steward Malta director Armin Ernst and other recipients, including a second private intelligence firm also paid by Steward.
A years-long magisterial inquiry concluded in 2024 saw corruption charges filed against a raft of government and Steward officials, including Muscat and Ernst. Both men deny wrongdoing. When contacted, a lawyer for Muscat said the ex-prime minister would be more than open to give comments but he is prevented from doing so by court order.
Ernst did not reply to a request for comment.
‘What can Steward offer?’
At the time the intelligence document was authored, Steward was locked in negotiations with the government in a bid to make the hospitals concession more “bankable”, or profitable, for the healthcare provider.
Steward was previously on the brink of signing a more profitable deal with Muscat’s government but talks collapsed after the prime minister announced his resignation at the end of 2019.
As part of their “intelligence” needs, CT Group sought details on what Steward could “offer” that would be “acceptable” to resolve the dispute with the government.
It also asked Steward to outline weaknesses in the government’s position on the concession.
CT Group declined to comment on the new document and instead directed Times of Malta to its past statements denying any wrongdoing.
A previous investigation by Times of Malta, OCCRP and the Boston Globe revealed how Steward paid over €6.5 million to private intelligence firms CT Group and Audere to conduct surveillance and disinformation operations against its critics.
Then health minister Chris Fearne, who is facing fraud charges in connection with the annulled Steward deal, appears to have been one of the key targets of the Malta operation.
Fearne and his former chief of staff Carmen Ciantar faced false claims of taking a €3.2 million payment linked to the sale of a Maltese passport to a Russian individual.
Internal Steward records show CT Group pledged to “deploy into the public domain information about the main opponent of the Client’s concession in Malta”.
The aim was to identify “improper” behaviour and leak it anonymously to Maltese media.
Later that year, CT Group passed on what it said was a bank wire transfer record showing €3.2 million moving to an account held by Carmen Ciantar’s daughter.
Claims based on the “fake” bank transfer record circulated on foreign websites subsequently picked up by the media in Malta.
Leaked files show how Steward allocated costs for its “intelligence” operations to its Malta budget, which was primarily funded by taxpayers for the running of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals.
Fearne, now a backbench Labour MP, demanded a police investigation into the campaign against him following the revelations in 2024.