Super CEO’s wife seconded to Mater Dei top job

Romina Fenech, the wife of ITS CEO Pierre Fenech, better known as “Super CEO”, is being seconded to a top job at Mater Dei Hospital after senior Housing Authority officials decided she should leave the authority, The Shift is informed.

Housing Authority sources said the decision followed dissatisfaction with her performance in a senior position at the authority.

The decision to transfer Fenech was taken by chief executive Matthew Zerafa, with the green light from Owen Bonnici, the new minister responsible for the sector, the sources said.

The exact role being created for Fenech at Mater Dei remains unknown. However, sources said Health Minister Ian Borg was trying to accommodate the Fenechs following intense political pressure from the couple.

Colleagues who spoke to The Shift said Fenech’s attendance at work had been irregular in recent weeks and questioned whether her qualifications, if any, matched the requirements of her Housing Authority role. They alleged that political connections and nepotism had helped her secure the position.

Fenech’s move follows previous reporting by The Shift about her government appointments and a complimentary Mediterranean cruise she took with her husband.

In February 2023, The Shift reported that she had been appointed to the board of the state-owned Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Company in 2020, when it fell under minister Michael Farrugia.

In September 2023, The Shift reported that Fenech accompanied her husband on a five-day Viking Cruises trip while the company was discussing a training arrangement with the Institute of Tourism Studies.

Pierre Fenech said the trip had official approval and that his wife paid for her travel to and from the departure port in Ancona, Italy. He disputed that the cruise constituted a gift.

Fenech earned the “Super CEO” label for simultaneously heading ITS and the Mediterranean Conference Centre, with a combined financial package reported at approximately €122,000 annually.

In March 2025, his MCC contract was not renewed, while he remained at ITS.

Fenech was also involved in several controversies, including a fake consultancy contract he gave to Minister Rosianne Cutajar when she was still an MP. Despite damning findings by the National Audit Office, both Fenech and Cutajar retained their posts.