Earlier this year, a Maltese magistrate concluded a four-year investigation into the case and recommended that Ernst and de la Torre be charged with money laundering, criminal association and corruption of government officials, including the country's former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Globe Reports.
Meanwhile, new allegations of domestic transactions continue to surface. In a separate investigative article Monday, the Globe reported that Steward executives were using Steward-owned malpractice insurer TRACO “as a piggy bank.” Panama-based TRACO was to work as an independent insurer for the hospital chain; Steward would pay TRACO malpractice insurance premiums on behalf of his physicians and the money collected would be used to litigate and pay 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 of it owed by Steward, and $176 million in “accounts receivable,” also largely owed by Steward.
Now that Steward is bankrupt, insurance coverage for healthcare providers is at stake, as are payouts to patients 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 $100,000 settlement in March 4 million with Sosa. , but the money has not appeared, leaving Sosa in limbo and struggling.
“They killed my wife, that's for starters. Secondly, they destroyed my family,” Sosa told the Globe through a translator. “These have all become loopholes, legal strategies. This is really difficult for me… I've already lost everything.”
