Nemea Bank has filed a lawsuit against its majority shareholder Nemea plc for defaulting on a €1.5 million loan taken out in February 2016.

The loan was taken out two months before the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) appointed an external administrator to take over the running of the bank.

Former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi was one of the directors of the bank at the time.

An operations report drawn up by administrators PwC and tabled in parliament last week details the bank’s efforts to try recoup the loan.

The report says that the bank’s majority shareholder defaulted on the loan payments, leading the bank to call in the loan.

A lawsuit was filed against Nemea plc for the repayment of the loan and interest, with the first hearing scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

The legal action is just one of eight cases the bank is fighting to recoup unpaid loans.

Although Nemea’s licence was withdrawn in 2017, its liquidation has been stalled pending appeals by the bank’s owners against the decision to shutter the bank. 

The online-only bank’s licence was withdrawn following serious regulatory concerns being flagged at the bank.

In January, the financial services tribunal upheld a request for the bank’s directors to be given access to Nemea’s records, documents and IT systems.

The directors had filed a complaint to the tribunal about being shut out of their own bank and having to rely on updates provided by the Malta Financial Services Authority-appointed administrators.

Nemea’s inability to pay back depositors following the regulatory action led the MFSA to trigger the depositor compensation scheme, which saw individual clients receive up to €100,000.

A total of €35 million was paid out to the bank’s customers under the scheme.