In September 2017, it was reported Fitzgerald had been suspended, following a Liverpool council disciplinary panel meeting. In December 2017 Fitzgerald applied for a judicial review of his arrest, but in April 2018 the High Court refused. In its judgment, the court said one ground for refusing his application was that the scope of an earlier investigation by Lancashire police - dubbed Operation Sheridan - that had led to his arrest had "widened to include alleged criminality within Liverpool City Council and the Merseyside Pension Fund (MPF)". In May 2018 Fitzgerald resigned from his Liverpool city council role with immediate effect. He remained on police bail.