The Nationalist Party’s due diligence committee has come under fire from businessman Boris Arcidiacono for not questioning assertions made by party leader Adrian Delia when “the facts could be easily verifiable”.

Arcidiacono is locked in a bitter court dispute with Delia over claims the PN leader took an unauthorised €86,000 cut on an HSBC loan he helped the businessman get.

In a letter sent to the due diligence committee, Arcidiacono said via his lawyer that Delia’s services never merited the €86,000 fee and no such fee was ever agreed on.

“My client has no intention to enter into any political dispute, however, he feels that certain ascertains made by Adrian Delia were not questioned when the facts could be easily verifiable,” the letter read.

In a case that has been ongoing since 2011, Arcidiacono claimed that Delia went behind his back to get HSBC to pay the €86,000 cut from a remaining loan balance, following a dispute over a €116,500 “success fee” demanded by Delia.

The lawsuit was initiated against HSBC but Delia was brought in as a party the following year.

Delia has insisted there was a verbal agreement on the success fee, which he says was paid out by HSBC with Arcidiacono’s knowledge.

The PN due diligence committee said in its report the concept of charging a “success fee” for procuring a loan from a commercial bank is, at best, ethically dubious.

Delia emerged from the report largely unscathed, as, according to political commentators, the panel sat on the fence about the veracity of a multitude of allegations the PN leader has faced.

Both Delia and fellow leadership contender Bernard Grech got a slap on the wrist over their tax dues. The panel conducting the due diligence exercise said every citizen had a moral and ethical duty to file tax returns and pay all tax due in a timely manner.

“In this regard, politicians should lead by example and, if anything, should be judged by higher standards”, it commented in the report.