Police inform Adrian Delia he is no longer a money laundering suspect

Updated 6.45pm with Alex Borg comment

Adrian Delia is no longer being investigated in relation to money laundering, the police have informed him.

In a letter dated October 19, a top police officer within the Financial Crimes Investigations Department told the PN MP and former Opposition leader that an investigation into him has been concluded.

“Unless further evidence or information becomes available, no further police action is anticipated. Accordingly, you are not regarded as a suspect in this matter,” the superintendent wrote. 

Delia had requested the clarification in a letter sent to Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa in September 2022 – more than three years ago - writing that allegations about him being under investigation had caused “irreparable damage” to his reputation and career.

Times of Malta had reported back in January 2020 that the probe into Delia’s financial affairs had all but stalled, though the official line at the time was that “investigations are still ongoing”.

Allegations about Delia’s financial affairs were first given prominence by Daphne Caruana Galizia, who reported on them in detail in 2017, months before she was killed and Delia was elected Nationalist Party leader.

The claims centred on money Delia received in an offshore account in Jersey related to property in London. 

In 2018, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit handed the police a report into Delia and the Jersey accounts. FIAU analysts had concluded that the accounts “may have been used for money laundering”.

But while the allegations continued to dog Delia and overshadowed his time as PN leader, the police probe struggled to get off the ground.

“We do not have great hope for this investigation,” a senior police told Times of Malta in 2019. “At this point it depends largely on other jurisdictions – some of which are very secretive – handing over the necessary information, as well as probing a 15-year-old prostitution racket which allegedly operated in another country.”

Delia was never charged and says he was never even questioned by the police in connection with the allegations.

On Saturday, Delia revealed that the police have confirmed, in writing, that the investigation is closed.

 He said he had followed up his September 2022 letter requesting information with several more over the years.

“Now it is clear these allegations were baseless and false,” he said. “The truth is finally out. I broke no law, committed no illegality and was not involved in any money laundering.

“I hope the people who tried to use these allegations and lied about me at least recognise that wrongdoing. We cannot dirty people’s reputations, destroy families and then years later get some form of justice,” Delia added.

Delia, who is a lawyer by profession, serves as a PN MP and the party’s spokesperson for finance, having narrowly lost a bid to be reelected party leader in a tight race to Alex Borg last month. 

In a statement on Facebook later on Saturday, PN leader Alex Borg said Delia's case confirmed that no one could erase the truth. 

He referred to accusations against Delia as a "futile exercise".

"I am sure that as part of the team, and holding the important role I have entrusted him with, Adrian will continue to carry out his work out of love for his country," he said.