What is the extent of Adrian Delia’s banking liabilities? Full data here

A raw nerve was touched yesterday when PN leadership Adrian Delia hit out at the publication of his company Mgarr Developments’ debts on a luxury apartment complex in Gozo, by Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

It was the second time in a week that news of Delia’s business interests and declarations of wealth prompted statements of umbrage against journalists delving into the litigation lawyer’s financial statements.

Nationalist MP Chris Said and party treasurer Alex Perici Calascione have made their own declaration of assets after choosing to run for party leader, but Delia has insisted he will only make his own declaration of assets if he is elected PN leader.

MaltaToday carried out its own research into the public registry to reveal the extent of Delia’s assets and liabilities. The data includes registered hypothecs on loans and sales and acquisitions, but does not constitute an exhaustive valuation of Delia’s wealth. Readers have to consider that the property against which the loans are taken out are bound to have a much higher value once they are realised.

But it is now clear that Delia’s major property interest is his company Mgarr Developments’ redevelopment of the former Mgarr Hotel, with partners Island Developments Ltd, and law firm partner Georg Sapiano (through Plata Charter Ltd).

The company was granted the sum total of €12.3 million in two loans from HSBC Bank in 2006, soon after it acquired the hotel and neighbouring restaurant for a total of Lm3.7 million (€8.62 million) from Easysell Caterers Gozo, a Tumas Group company.

Caruana Galizia yesterday published a recent constitution of debt from HSBC to the company, consisting of €7.2 million of the original €12.3 million loaned, signed as recently as 26 July.

In his comments to Caruana Galizia, Delia admitted he cannot dispose of his 9% shareholding in Mgarr Developments until the debt is actually paid, putting paid to his own recent statements that he would dispose of his business interests once elected.

Delia was reported to have said that the process of repaying the debt “shouldn’t take longer than 18 months”, pending the finalisation of the apartments and their sale. He blamed the planning authority for “giving us trouble” when the company decided to reduce the number of planned apartments from 80 to 41.

He also said he reckoned the price of each individual apartment would be “upwards of half a million”, which would mean a ball-park figure €20.5 million for the sale of all the apartments.

“I’m told that the value of the property at Mgarr exceeds the amount we owe to the bank, so I am not concerned because when we sell the flats we are covered,” he told Caruana Galizia. “So then in 18 months we’ll have paid back the loan by selling all the remaining flats, and then I will be able to sell my shares in the company.”

After the publication of the exchange, Adrian Delia issued a thin-skinned statement accusing Caruana Galizia of having carried out a “hysterical” conversation with him.

He said the report into his liabilities was “not an acceptable way of reporting a sensitive political process.”

Delia then accused Caruana Galizia of carrying out “a personal and manipulative attack on me and my family” – words redolent of his statement in which he “condemned” MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan for reporting that he was in business with the former brother-in-law of Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Delia reiterated that he had a minor shareholding of 9% in the Gozo property company, which he said has more assets than debts. “The value of this property owned by the company, by far exceeds the capital invested on this project and the remaining dues. Despite that I clearly explained this to Daphne Caruana Galizia, she chose not to publish this important fact.”

Delia said he would only publish his declaration of assets if he is elected PN leader. “These baseless attacks on my family and myself are not normal, and put forward a worrisome question: Why these kind of attacks, and who is behind them? This is all a waste of precious time during which they could be discussing political proposals for our party and country. Instead, we are asked to discuss people’s personal lives.”

Delia then said he had nothing to hide, although so far he has been circumspect about the extent of his banking liabilities. “Anyone who is alleging otherwise is trying to deceive people. Now more than ever, we need a new way of doing politics.”

Delia said he would sell off all of his business interests if elected PN leader. “The Nationalist Party cannot remain silent in front of those who want to keep pulling the strings whenever they want to. It needs a strong, united party that discusses politics for the people, and not about the people in politics. PN needs a new way, politics for the people, a bottom-to-top approach and not the other way round where those in power dictate people’s thoughts,” Delia said.

Second outburst with press

Delia’s statement, where he takes exception to the press’s interest in his financial affairs, is the second this week.

MaltaToday’s report on his business relationships, one of them being the former brother-in-law of outgoing PN leader Simon Busuttil, was met with a livid reaction from Delia, who claimed that the newspaper had “attacked” Busuttil’s family – ostensibly when making reference to the widely-reported public altercation between Busuttil’s sister Diane and ex-husband Eucharist Bajada, who is in business with Delia.

The spin – for Delia called it a ‘malicious attack’ – reverberated on Facebook, where Delia exhorted followers to “condemn the attack”, prompting a barrage of vitriol that then continued on the Malta Independent, whose director of content, Pierre Portelli, happens to be consulting Delia on his campaign. Portelli has also not ruled out being interested in the PN’s secretary-general role after having served as president of the PN’s administrative council back in 2011.

Delia is a minority shareholder with PN leader Simon Busuttil’s former brother-in-law, Eucharist Bajada Jnr in the company Frankef Limited, and as director with him in the company Chris, Nicholas & Associates Company Limited. Delia is also a shareholder with Bajada senior in Patience Developments Limited.

Delia is also involved with his wife Nicole Vella de Fremaux and Tonio Debono in Carnaby Limited, a company dealing with the importation of high quality wines.