A former prime minister has become the first in Malta to have criminal charges brought against him over a corruption scandal.
A former prime minister has become the first in Malta to have criminal charges brought against him over a corruption scandal. Former Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat is among several former and current officials on the Mediterranean island facing criminal charges in a corruption scandal over a scheme to sell public hospitals to a private company. The charges, which mainly relate to money laundering, were brought by prosecutors on Monday but the hospital deal itself dates back to 2015 and has been the subject of multiple civil court rulings, audits, and investigative reports. Muscat has denied wrongdoing, writing in a Facebook post that if the charges were not so serious, they would be “laughable”. Experts said this was the first time that criminal charges have been brought against a former prime minister in Malta. While the full investigation report that resulted in these charges is not yet public, here’s a look at the background of the scandal.
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