€86,000 success fee for Delia was lawful, court declares

A court of law has thrown out a claim by furniture retailer Boris Arcidiacono against HSBC Bank Malta, whom he accused of unlawfully paying over €86,000 in legal fees to his then-lawyer Adrian Delia.

Delia, who went on to become Nationalist Party leader before being deposed, had rendered his services to Arcidiacono on a constitution of debt.

Arcidiacono had claimed Delia was already paid by his firm under a retainer. But the bank, as well as Delia who was later brought into the civil case, insisted that the €86,210 had been paid out in the presence of Arcidiacono upon reaching the debt settlement.

Arcidiacono had aired his grievances at the time Delia was seeking election as the PN’s leader in 2017, claiming no proper due diligence had been carried out by the party on the prospective candidate. Delia went on to win the party election.

Since then, Arcidiacono has been insisting in court that Delia was paid an extravagant €86,210 fee for his role in securing a handsome €800,000 loan from HSBC, that had to settle creditors’ dues as well as finance a prospective showroom in Msida.

The case has been ongoing since 2011, after Arcidiacono claimed the bank draft HSBC issued to Delia was never authorised by him. Arcidiacono even disputed the fact that the final cheque, issued to Delia, had been made out in his presence, despite court testimonies to the contrary from bank officials present for the signing.

Arcidiacono’s counsel had even claimed in court that Delia had convinced the bank to pay him the money after his client had refused him a Lm50,000 – €116,500 – “success fee” for negotiating the debt constitution.

Delia had denied the charge. “The client was with me on the day of signing, and the cheques were issued by the bank…. The client knew I was to be paid there and then, and the bank had a list of people to pay and affected payment as such. My job was to assist Boris Arcidiacono get the loan, pay his creditors and finance a property.”

Delia said he later even went to eat at The Carriage restaurant with Arcidiacono and his daughter after the successful bank meeting.

Delia told the court that the Lm50,000 success fee had been agreed upon verbally with his then-client, because Arcidiacono could not afford the monthly retainer.

“He said he would pay me once I secure him the loan. That’s why we moved from a retainer fee to a lump sum,” Delia told the court. “Arcidiacono later filed a complaint with both HSBC and the Chamber of Advocates, to whom I had to give an explanation. The bank carried out an internal inquiry, and they found nothing wrong, nor did the Chamber.”

But the court hearing the years-long case said it was clear from the evidence presented by the respondents, that Boris Arcidiacono was clearly in the know about his pending dues to Aequitas Legal – Delia’s law firm at the time – having to be settled upon signing the constitution of debt.

“The plaintiff was well aware of the fees payable to the firm, via Adrian Delia, for the finalisation of the public deeds, namely the loan from HSBC and four third-party transactions,” the court said.

The court added that while Boris Arcidiacono was of the firm opinion that Delia’s services to him had been covered by a hefty retainer, this did not cover the lawyer’s assistance on the constitution of debt.

“It is proven that the €86,210 paid by the bank to Dr Delia on behalf of the plaintiff, was a payment for services rendered, and that the plaintiff was well aware of this before the signing of the contacts. HSBC was right in effecting said payments as legal fees for what was an out-of-court settlement... there is no merit in the plaintiff’s claim for damages.”

Delia was represented in court by Dr Vincent Galea.