Updated | Vitals insists diligence on Ram Tumuluri was ‘clean’ but PN cries foul

Vitals Global Heathcare, the company chosen as the operators of the St Luke’s, Gozo and Karin Grech hospitals, has moved to deny the PN’s allegations of wrongdoing against its director Ram Tumuluri.

PN election candidate and radio host David Thake on Tuesday warned that Tumuluri was previously in charge of a Canadian hotel but quite just before it went bankrupt. Citing Supreme Court documents, he said that Tumuluri had failed in his obligation to pay VAT to the Canadian authorities, that he had deleted the company’s accounting record, and that he had stolen credit card deposits for guests, leaving the hotel with no cash to refund them.

Now, four days after the allegations were made, VGH said it categorically denies all allegations that Tumuluri is wanted or is being investigated for fraud or for pending cases in relation to past business ventures.

“VGH regularly carries out due diligence investigations on all its executives and directors. To date, all due diligence carried out on Mr Tumuluri has been clean, and contains none of the aforementioned allegations,” the company said in a statement. “It is VGH’s stance that before any allegations are leveled in public, fact checking and basic due diligence rules should be observed – rather than plainly repeating unsubstantiated accusations from questionable sources leading to reputational damage for people and organisations.

“Mr Tumuluri will continue to play a pivotal role as director within the organisation, contributing to VGH’s continued growth and success in the world of health delivery.”

During a recent live show on Switch Radio, Thake phone-called an unnamed Canadian venture capitalist who Tumuluri had once tried to source funds of.

The investor recounted how Tumuluri – previously head of housekeeping at a motel in British Columbia – had grouped  together a bunch of investors to take over management of the Nita Lake Lodge – a boutique hotel in the mountains of Whistler - that was being administered by HSBC.

While the hotel’s fortunes flourished during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Tumuluri was unable to keep his finances afloat afterwards.

“It was here that he asked me to invest in the hotel. When I saw it, I thought ‘Holy shit, how can someone not manage to make money out of this?’. However, the problem is that it’s very expensive to maintain, which means that it requires expertise and a vision to lead – which Tumuluri didn’t have.

“When the going got tough and the hotel was facing several liabilities, Tumuluri – the sole signatory of the company’s cash-flow walked away, leaving a $200,000 VAT bill unpaid and taking deposits that guests had paid the hotel with him.”

In a statement, the PN stuck to its guns and published the Supreme Court documents in the case instigated against Tumuluri’s former company T & V Hospitality in 2014.

It accused the Labour government of using VGH to undermine the facts and said that “the people aren’t stupid as the people high up at Castille would like them to be”.

“Before it tries to twist the facts, the government should come clean on who is behind t VGH and why, out of all possible companies and people, it chose a person implicated in fraud to lead the Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals.”