VALLETTA, Malta: Deputy Prime Minister of Malta Chris Fearne, resigned Friday after being charged with fraud in a hospital privatization scandal.
Earlier, Fearne had been tipped to be the country’s next European Commissioner.
In his resignation letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela, he said he was not resigning from the post as he had doubts about his innocence, but because this was the right thing to do.
Fearne also appealed his name be withdrawn for European Commissioner.
The development comes five days after Fearne was charged along with Malta’s former premier Joseph Muscat and the central bank chief in a scandal.
Muscat and one of his cabinet members, Konrad Mizzi, were charged with receiving bribes, corruption in public office and money laundering. However, e Fearne was charged with fraud, fraudulent gain and misappropriation.
Fearne denies any wrongdoing
The former Deputy Prime Minister denies any wrongdoing and remains a member of parliament.
In the resignation letter, which he posted on Facebook, Fearne dismissed the charges against him terming them unjust.
He hoped that the judicial process would be led in an expedited manner so that he could clear his name as early as possible.
Prime Minister Abela urged Fearne to reconsider his resignation, expressing full faith in him.
The case dates back to the decision by Muscat’s government in 2015 to transfer the management of three public hospitals to a private company, Vitals Global Healthcare.
It is pertinent to note that the company had no experience in healthcare and after 21 months it sold the concession to another company, Steward Health Care.
