Steward Paid Ram Tumuluri €10 Million Despite Fraud Allegations
Former Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) director Ram Tumuluri received €10.5 million as part of a confidential settlement agreement with Steward Healthcare, despite the company accusing him of fraud.
The settlement details, part of a cache of 300,000 leaked documents obtained by OCCRP, reveal how the February 2019 agreement was reached to avoid litigation and to keep allegations of wrongdoing by both parties under wraps.
Times of Malta reported that the leaked documents show Tumuluri threatening to expose what he claimed was evidence of misconduct by Steward during its takeover of the hospitals concession from VGH.
The allegations included claims of intimidation and pressure that he said forced him to sell VGH to Steward under duress. In turn, Steward accused Tumuluri and others in the VGH management team of creating fraudulent VAT invoices and hiding significant liabilities, which they claimed resulted in losses exceeding €50 million.
The settlement agreement specified that both parties would not publicly disclose or criticise one another, with payments made over a three-year period.
While Tumuluri received €10.5 million, another VGH partner, Mark Pawley, was paid €5 million as part of the same deal.
Despite this, tensions between the parties persisted, with Tumuluri later accusing Steward of breaching the agreement by making public statements that he argued disparaged his reputation.
Tumuluri’s role as director of VGH links him to the controversial hospitals concession signed with the Maltese government in 2015, which has since been marred by allegations of corruption.
A magisterial inquiry last year resulted in charges being filed against several high-profile individuals, including former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff Keith Schembri, and former minister Konrad Mizzi. All deny the charges.
Leaked emails reveal that Tumuluri sought assistance from Schembri and Mizzi to mediate the dispute with Steward, citing promises made during the original concession.
In one email, Tumuluri expressed frustration over what he described as political pressure to sell VGH to Steward, claiming that he complied reluctantly due to assurances given by government officials.
The leaked documents also include an internal three-page dossier prepared by Steward titled “Sri Ram Tumuluri – Bad Acts,” which outlined alleged instances of VAT offences, improper payments, and financial mismanagement under Tumuluri’s leadership at VGH.
Despite this, Steward ultimately chose to settle with Tumuluri to avoid the costs and uncertainties of litigation.
Tumuluri has since submitted a 463-page whistleblower filing to US authorities, alleging that he was the victim of a coordinated effort by the Maltese government to remove him from the concession in favour of Steward.
Both Steward and its US executives are reportedly under investigation for corruption in the United States.