Malta central bank head suspends himself amid hospitals scandal

VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna has suspended himself from his duties pending the conclusion of a court case over a 2015 hospitals privatisation deal, when he was finance minister, the government said on Tuesday.

Scicluna, 77, stands accused of fraud and misappropriation along with 13 other senior serving or former government officials, including former deputy prime minister and minister of health Chris Fearne, court documents seen by Reuters showed. All deny the charges.

The island's government said on Tuesday it had noted a request made by Scicluna to ECB President Christine Lagarde "that he no longer exercise the functions of governor of the Central Bank until a court case against him is concluded".

"The Cabinet of Ministers acknowledges Professor Scicluna's decision as being in the best interests of the country," it said.

Scicluna did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Central Bank Deputy Governor Alex Demarco will take over.

The scandal concerns a 2015 decision by the Maltese government to award a contract for three state hospitals to the previously unknown Vitals Healthacre Group, which later handed the concession to American hospitals group Steward. A Malta court last year annulled the concession, saying it was fraudulent.

Scicluna was a member of the European Parliament and an economics professor before being appointed finance minister in 2013 by then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

He became central bank governor on Jan. 1, 2021.

It is not known how long the court case against him will take, but cases typically take several years on the Mediterranean island.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; Editing by Sandra Maler)