Malta\u2019s attorney general has filed charges of fraud and misappropriation of funds against Central Bank of Malta Governor Edward Scicluna and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, court documents show.
\nMore serious corruption charges have also been levelled against former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff and a former health minister \u2013 all in connection with a hospital privatisation scandal dating back to 2015.
\nThe charges follow a four-year inquiry instigated by the opposition Nationalist Party over a deal which handed management of three state hospitals to a previously unknown group, which had no experience in the medical sector.
\nThe 30-year deal, which was conservatively valued at 4 billion euros ($4.23 billion), was annulled by Malta\u2019s highest court in February after it found fraud.
\nScicluna was finance minister and Fearne was a junior health minister at the time of the deal. Scicluna, who is a member of the European Central Bank\u2019s Governing Council, has not commented on the accusations, but has previously denied any wrongdoing. Fearne has rejected the charges.
\n\u201cI have absolutely no doubt that the court will find nothing other than my complete innocence,\u201d he said in a statement.
\nMuscat, chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi face charges of money laundering, corruption, bribery, trading in influence and setting up a criminal association. All three men have denied the accusations.
\nMuscat resigned in January 2020 after media revealed that he and Schembri had a close friendship with businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is awaiting trial for complicity in the 2017 car bomb murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
\nMuscat has not been linked to the murder investigation.
\nPrime Minister Robert Abela has criticised the way the inquiry was conducted and has defended Fearne, saying he would remain in office and had no doubt about his integrity.
\nHowever, he has not confirmed whether he will press ahead with previously announced plans to nominate him next month as Malta\u2019s next European Commissioner.
\nNo date had been announced for the formal court arraignments when the accused will be asked to file a plea.
\n(Reuters)Hospital Privatization Scandal. fraud, misappropriation of funds, corruption<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Malta’s attorney general has filed charges of fraud and misappropriation of funds against Central Bank of Malta Governor Edward Scicluna and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne in connection with a hospital privatisation scandal from 2015. Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff, and a former health minister also face serious corruption charges related to the scandal. The deal, valued at 4 billion euros, was annulled by Malta’s highest court in February due to fraud. Fearne has denied the charges, while Scicluna has not commented on the accusations. Muscat, Schembri, and Mizzi deny charges of money laundering, corruption, bribery, and more. Muscat resigned in 2020 after a close friendship with businessman Yorgen Fenech was revealed. Prime Minister Abela has defended Fearne’s integrity but has not confirmed plans to nominate him as Malta’s next European Commissioner. No date has been set for the formal court arraignments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[580,1902,2994,8019,1107,4601,5666,3894,2458,295,932,51,2515,569,518,8903,1059,8776,2110,5098,210,2990,156,2476,1419,910,9334,6653,2952,9335,2628,1060,183,4593,5328,1792,2617,759,7967,1827,1906,6305,18],"class_list":["post-11114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-attorney-general","tag-bank","tag-bomb","tag-businessman","tag-car","tag-central-bank","tag-central-bank-governor","tag-charges","tag-connection","tag-corruption","tag-court","tag-european-central-bank","tag-february","tag-finance","tag-finance-minister","tag-follow","tag-fraud","tag-friendship","tag-funds","tag-governor","tag-health","tag-health-minister","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-investigation","tag-journalist","tag-malta","tag-management","tag-media","tag-misappropriation-of-funds","tag-money","tag-money-laundering","tag-murder","tag-office","tag-party","tag-prime-minister","tag-privatisation","tag-scandal","tag-state","tag-statement","tag-trial","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n