Finance minister sues Simon Busuttil for libel over ‘unfounded’ claims

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna will be using former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil for libel, over comments by the latter stating that the minister was “embroiled in a money laundering investigation”.

Yesterday, a court upheld a request by the NGO Repubblika which has requested an inquiry into the transfer of three public hospitals to Vital Global Healthcare.

Busuttul took to twitter this morning to urge Scicluna to resign as a result of the decision.

“As a eurozone country we cannot afford to have a Finance Minister embroiled in a money laundering investigation. For the sake of our country Edward Scicluna must go now, at least until he clears his name,” Busuttil wrote.

Scicluna said he would be initiating legal proceedings against Busuttil. “This after Friday morning, Simon Busuttil tweeted a message containing false allegations against the minister, which implicated that the minister could have possibly had a role in money laundering activities.”

Scicluna said he had been left with no choice but to initiate proceedings for defamation in order to protect his integrity.

The inquiry was requested in order to establish whether ministers Edward Scicluna, Chris Cardona and Konrad Mizzi, among others, had given the investors an unfair advantage in the contract’s selection process.

The government said yesterday it would be appealing against the decree, arguing that the allegations were speculative and made in bad faith by politically-motivated individuals.

READ MORE: Repubblika requests criminal probe into VGH hospitals deal