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Steward Healthcare Chairman and CEO Ralph De La Torre is set to have assets seized and be arraigned in connection with a broad money laundering investigation by the Maltese government, according to an order signed by a Maltese judge obtained by 9fin. See the order signed by Judge Edwina Grima here.

The Maltese court order approves a request from the Malta Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg to issue freezing orders over a list of individuals and companies related to ex-Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat involving bribery and Steward’s involvement in Malta hospitals. De La Torre is among several companies and individuals named in the order, alongside Muscat.

An email request for comment to Buttigieg’s office has not been returned. Steward has not responded to requests for comment. Attempts to reach De La Torre have been unsuccessful.

While it is unclear how this development could impact Steward’s current turnaround effort, the Maltese government could end up a creditor in a possible Steward Chapter 11 case by requesting that a US court (either state or federal) recognize a foreign judgment for a monetary award from Malta.

9fin independently confirmed the order’s authenticity with a Maltese attorney who is not involved in the case.

While the order is in Maltese, the attorney (who preferred to speak on background) also confirmed that it relates to allegations under the terms of Article 3 of Chap. 373 of the Laws of Malta, which is the law that refers to money laundering. The order means the police now have six months to seize assets of the suspects and companies named in the order, according to this attorney.

The news comes on the eve of a 30 April end-date for Steward’s current forbearance agreement with its ABL lenders. Steward has not updated the status of its forbearance.

A local Malta news website run by Mark Camilleri has been posting stories detailing the order. Additionally, coverage in the Times of Malta details the history of this action dates back to the creation of a new entity in Malta, Vitals Global Healthcare, which was granted a multi-million-dollar contract to run three state hospitals, the operations of which were sold to Steward.

The Vitals inquiry began in 2019, and continued to broaden over that past five years, according to the Malta news outlet and other coverage by The Boston Globe. Along the way, in January 2022 police raided Muscat’s home and office, and in 2023, a Maltese court annulled the deal with Steward surrounding allegations of fraud.

On 3 April, US Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren held a subcommittee hearing (see replay here) focused on Steward Health Care and for-profit health systems across America over concerns that “greed undercuts access to high quality care and places providers in impossible positions,” according to a description of the hearing by Markey’s website. De La Torre was invited but was the only executive who did not show.

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Steward CEO embroiled in Malta money laundering investigation

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