Earlier this year, a Maltese magistrate concluded a four-year investigation into the matter and recommended that Ernst and de la Torre be charged with money laundering, criminal association, and corruption of public officials, including the nation’s former prime minister, Joseph Muscat, the Globe reports.
Meanwhile, new allegations of domestic dealings continue to come to light. In a separate investigative story Monday, the Globe reported that Steward executives used Steward-owned malpractice insurer TRACO “like a piggy bank.” The Panama-based TRACO was supposed to work like an independent insurer for the hospital chain; Steward would pay TRACO malpractice insurance premiums on behalf of its doctors and the pooled money would be used to litigate and pay out claims. But, instead of paying premiums, Steward gave TRACO IOUs. By the end of 2023, TRACO’s accounting records showed $99 million in outstanding loans, most owed by Steward, and $176 million in “accounts receivable,” also mostly owed by Steward.
With Steward now in bankruptcy, insurance coverage for health care providers is now in question, as are payouts to patients who were harmed by Steward’s care. The Globe noted the case of Yasmany Sosa, whose 35-year-old wife, Yanisey Rodriguez, died a preventable death after giving birth at Steward North Shore Medical Center in Florida in September 2022. Steward agreed to a $4 million settlement with Sosa in March, but the money hasn’t appeared, leaving Sosa in limbo and struggling.
“They killed my wife, that’s for starters. Second of all, they destroyed my family,” Sosa told the Globe through a translator. “This has all become a bunch of loopholes, legal strategies. This really is very difficult for me… I’ve already lost everything.”