Ministers Edward Scicluna, Konrad Mizzi and Chris Cardona will appeal a magistrate’s decision to order an inquiry into the government’s sale of three state hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare.

In May, Activist group Repubblika launched a court application demanding a criminal inquiry that focuses on the three ministers involved in the controversial €2.1 billion concession.

The three ministers have been accused of facilitating a “coordinated” “act of modern-day piracy”, “corruption and money laundering, among other crimes” which saw VGH’s investor leave a debt of €50 million.

In a statement, Scicluna, Mizzi, and Cardona said that the allegations were speculative in nature and were made in bad faith by politically-motivated individuals.

The sale of the state hospital in itself was always controversial, especially given claims that the signing of a memorandum of understanding occurred five months before Projects Malta even issued a public call for proposals.

The concerns were only further compounded once VGH was forced to sell its 30-year concession to manage three state hospitals just 21 months into its operation in 2017.

PN Leader Adrian Delia had made the issue a priority subject when first ascending to the party’s leadership, taking the affair to court to scrap the deal. However, the sale to Steward still went through while the case goes on.

The VGH inquiry will be another in a long list of ongoing investigations into the government’s conduct and alleged links to corruption. So far, every single inquiry except for Egrant has been bogged down by legal challenges and appeals from parties involved, with no indication as of yet when they will be concluded.

READ NEXT: VGH: Ministry Of Health Continues To Undermine Malta’s Commissioner For Health Over Failure To Provide Unredacted Agreement