A former boss of Australia’s biggest public hospital service, now living in the United Kingdom, says authorities never told him he was wanted on corruption charges.

The former Metro North Health and Hospital Service chief executive responded by telling the BBC he had “not been notified” of an arrest warrant or interviewed about the allegations after leaving Australia in disgrace in 2014.

A co-accused in an allegedly corrupt scheme to give Stamp’s daughter a job via a taxpayer-funded contract received a suspended jail sentence last year and another is listed for sentencing in May.

But Stamp, a decorated Commander of the British Empire for his work in the UK’s National Health Service, lives in a large house in the quiet village of Roughton, in the English county of Norfolk.

He told the BBC in a statement that his sacking in January 2015 was “not linked to the investigation of the [CCC]”, which began the day after he was suspended by Metro North in September 2014.

Mr Stamp said he was sacked “without me being given reason or cause”.

Leading up to his sacking, he was “legally obligated not to speak to the media or anyone else other than my legal representatives”, he said.

“In the past five years and one month, I have never been interviewed formally or informally about any claims in these matters by my former employer or the [CCC],” he said.

“I have now ascertained that in February 2018 a warrant was established to be served if I was to return to Australia.

“I confirm that I had not been notified of this course of action.”

Stamp said it would be “inappropriate for me to comment on any claims or comments relating to these matters”.

He is accused of secretly arranging an unnecessary $80,000 media and communication services job for his daughter via an unrelated contract with a consultant to Metro North.

A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC the CCC is preparing an application to extradite Stamp.

The source said the extradition bid was linked to the last-minute postponement of sentencing of Stamp’s co-accused, a health contractor, in the District Court in Brisbane last month.

The barrister for the health contractor sought a four-month adjournment because of “matters at hand involving an investigation”.

Barrister Russell Pearce told the court: “The arraignment’s been done, the statement of facts is agreed, everything is locked in place but there are these other steps in the investigation.”

The contractor is listed for sentencing in May on charges of corruptly giving or offering valuable consideration to influence favour in relation to principals, affairs or business, and providing a false or misleading receipt or account.

The CCC has confirmed the arrest warrant is still in place, but declined to comment on whether it is moving to extradite Stamp.

– ABC