Adrian Delia is set to face a committee tasked with assessing his suitability as a leadership candidate. Jacob Borg looks at the baggage the embattled PN leader brings to the role.
Police probe
A 2018 report by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), Malta’s anti-money laundering body, asked the police to investigate Delia on suspicions of money laundering in connection with a 2004 Soho prostitution racket.
The police never showed much enthusiasm for the investigation, which was complicated by the passage of time and a web of companies spanning from the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas to Switzerland.
Delia had denied any knowledge of a Jersey account used to move the money around but the FIAU managed to trace the account that was held in his name between February 2001 and October 2004.
The PN leader has denied any wrongdoing and insists his involvement was limited to that of a legal adviser and representative for other Maltese nationals.
‘Unauthorised’ cut
Delia has been accused by Boris Arcidiacono of taking an unauthorised €86,000 cut from a €800,000 HSBC loan he helped the businessman secure.
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 the 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.
Murky finances
Delia has never satisfactorily explained how he funds yearly obligations, including several banks loans, overdraft and credit card payments of over €100,000 on a salary of €44,000.
The opposition leader has over the past years consistently declared in financial filings to parliament that he does not have a penny to his name.
It also emerged that Delia racked up unpaid taxes and penalty fees of €81,000, which were settled after he became party leader.
Furthermore, his failure to disclose to the Nationalist Party a €7.2 million debt, which he is jointly responsible for together with his business partners, earned him a rebuke from the party’s ethics committee in August 2017 in the run-up to the leadership election.
The debt is held by Mġarr Developments Limited, as part of funding provided by HSBC for a luxury property venture overlooking the Mġarr Harbour in Gozo.
Mġarr Developments’ last available accounts show the debt stood at €5 million in 2018.
17 Black mark
A magisterial inquiry was opened in June to look into accusations that 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech was secretly funnelling money to Delia in a bid to scupper MEP David Casa’s re-election hopes in 2019.
Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, a close friend of Fenech, claimed in court that Delia’s former right-hand man, Pierre Portelli, would collect €20,000 a month from the businessman, who stands accused of complicity in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Delia has admitted to meeting Fenech for a meal prior to the 17 Black revelations in November 2018 but claimed to have cut all ties after that.
Both Portelli and Delia have denied the claims. Fenech has also previously denied paying money to derail Casa’s campaign.
Times of Malta revealed Delia continued replying to Fenech’s messages after that date.
The messages from Fenech included encouragement for Delia after the European Parliament election drubbing as well as an invitation to a meal.