Delia claims his signature was falsified in documents investigated by FIAU

Opposition leader Adrian Delia has asked the Commissioner of Police to investigate the alleged falsification of his signature, which he claims was used for financial transactions.

In a press conference he called on Saturday evening at 6:30pm, Delia was reacting to questions he received from the Times of Malta over what he called “allegations and insinuations” based on reports from an investigation by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.

“These documents contain my falsified signature,” Delia said in his complaint to Lawrence Cutajar. “I expect to be kept constantly updated on the matter.”

The questions sent to Delia were based on the finalisation of an FIAU investigation which has been forwarded to the Commissioner of Police.

“It is being alleged that this FIAU report, if it does exist, was passed on to the police for investigation in March 2018… but as you well know, I have never been asked to give an explanation or statement to the police.

“In the light of these allegations I am asking you to investigate the connection between these false signatures on the documents I have passed on to you, and the allegations in the questions that have been sent to me.”

Delia said he denied that he was ever involved in illegal financial transactions.

“As a citizen as well as leader of the Opposition, I have every right to know the details of any allegations in my regard, as much as I have the duty to defend my reputation against malicious attacks against me for partisan reasons, especially when they are built on documents with false signatures,” Delia said.

“I say this with the greatest of responsibility, since only a few hours ago I criticised the state capture of institutions such as the FIAU, the police corps and the Attorney General’s office, and then these allegations from the Times of Malta reached me to discredit me. These attacks are part of a campaign to weaken the Maltese institutions.”

The FIAU investigation concerns a London-based prostitution racket and the alleged involvement of Delia, which allegedly recommended a criminal investigation into the possible laundering of funds for the Maltese owners of two Soho brothels. 

The allegations were reported by the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and MaltaToday, where Delia was said to have acted for clients collecting rent from properties which were used for illicit earnings from prostitution.

Delia is believed to have used a Barclays International account in Jersey to receive the rent of 52 Greek Street, paid to him by Emanuel Bajada, to be forwarded on to Bajada’s brother Eucharist, the owner of the property, or to two UK companies.

Delia already has a business relationship with Eucharist Bajada and his son, Eucharist jnr, in Malta. Emanuel Bajada was convicted of living off prostitution earnings in 2010.

Delia’s Jersey account was said to have received £20,000 every month in rent for the Soho house, which Emanuel Bajada’s lawyers in 2003 claimed were not forwarded to the two UK companies. After 2004, the house was owned by Mark Barbara, an aide to minister Chris Cardona, who as lawyer had defended Emanuel Bajada on prostitution charges in 2005; and now it is owned by a BVI-registered company called Maybole.