Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia owes more than €60,000 in taxes, a figure he confirmed during a sit-down with journalists to review his financial situation ahead of the leadership election.
Delia, who is running for party leader alongside Bernard Grech, said the total amount due to the taxman from the past five years stood at €280,154, of which he still owes €63,763.
On Thursday, a due diligence report published by the party showed that Delia had declared he still had material tax balances due. Delia has repeatedly declared in public that he is up to date on his tax dues, having settled all arrears in 2018.
However, a statement of affairs as at July 2020 presented by Delia to the panel showed he still owed money to the taxman.
On Saturday, Delia confirmed the figure, saying there had been changes in the way he filed taxes in 2018 because of his marital breakdown.
“The reason that amount has not been paid is because there is a legal situation that is still being resolved. Having ongoing marital separation proceedings is not something that stops a person from running a party,” he said.
Asked what had happened to the €200,000 from shares he sold in 2018, after he had declared to have no money in the bank in 2019, Delia said the amount was never paid directly to him but was used to settle ongoing payments he still had.
On his future plans, Delia said that if he is re-elected, he would consider working with those he believed were “fed misinformation” but not those who were the ones spreading what he described as false claims.
“But with those who lied about me and fed misinformation, I would make sure to tell everyone that they should not have faith in someone like that,” Delia said.
And if he lost the race, the PN leader said he would accept any role within the party, saying he was always ready to serve.
“I will certainly be very happy to continue contributing to the PN,” he said.
The election will be spread over five days and will come to an end on October 3. It was triggered after Delia lost a confidence vote in the PN general council in August.
Grech, a lawyer and political outsider, was subsequently the only challenger to put his name forward for the election, paving the way for a two-horse race for the leadership.
Grech: My case is closed
Meanwhile, Grech who himself recently had to settle almost €30,000 in tax dues, insisted he had disclosed all relevant information and that the authorities now regarded the case as closed.
In an interview with a TVM reporter on Net FM, he reiterated his apology for allowing the situation to develop, and added that he would be ready to collaborate with the tax department if it felt that more information or investigation was required.
Pressed on whether, as a potential opposition leader, he would provide this information to the press if requested, he insisted it was only the tax authorities who were empowered to investigate and who had the resources to examine "the whole picture".