Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 APRIL 2023 Ryan Schembri with plans to expand his textile retail togeth- er with More's expansion in the war-torn country, specifi- cally at the Palm City complex in Jumeirah, outside Tripoli. There, Farrugia allegedly met the mysterious Indian entrepre- neur named Abdul Rahman at a construction fair. He also met Casha in Paris at the Sial food business fair, together with Schembri, with whom the two were apparent- ly partners in the Sorriso Food brand of imported meats, a trademark owned by a Libyan company Copacabana Invest- ments Group, and represented by Libyan trader Mohammed Emhemmed. Copacabana had appointed Cassar & Schembri Marketing (the trading arm for the More Supermarkets chain) as its agent. Farrugia claimed he had been approached to source a €1 mil- lion loan for More Supermar- kets, money alleged obtained from Abdual Rahman. Yet Far- rugia told the court he had nei- ther a written agreement with said Rahman, nor a power-of-at- torney to appear on a constitu- tion of debt with Schembri. Still he insisted that Rahman's investment did pass on to Cas- sar & Schembri Marketing, and that Schembri even tried to rope him in as a shareholder, an offer he refused because he wanted loan notes for the Rahman cash. Yet there was never any sign in the Maltese courts from the enigmatic Rahman to front the legal request to have his money returned. Croatian ruse Casha also claimed that, pri- or to his May 2014 acquisition, Ryan Schembri came up with a ruse for his creditors that a Croatian criminal investigation was threatening to snowball into Malta and lead to an asset freeze on More Supermarkets. According to Mugliett, this was a money laundering investiga- tion. At a certain point, Schembri even toyed with the idea of a bond issue for the More super- market chain, meeting KPMG representatives together with Darren Casha and his associ- ates Adrian Zammit and Ray Camilleri, and Schembri's own business consultant – Edmond Mugliett. The public offering never came to fruition. Over that summer of 2014, Schembri was admitted to St James Hospital with heart prob- lems. Farrugia, testifying in court, claims it was Schembri who informed him of a "certain Ed- mond Mugliett" who was chas- ing the supermarket chain for a hefty debt, and suggested that he enter the constitution of debt to lay claim to the debt. Farrugia even alleged that in transferring ownership to Casha, Schembri was trying to misappropriate a €300,000 VAT refund on the supermarket's shelving and fur- niture to settle his debts. Dar- ren Casha disputed this claim in court, saying nothing in the books for the supermarket chain reflected the €3.5 million claimed by Farrugia and Mugli- ett. Additionally, the constitution of debt was signed without Ryan Schembri being present. Instead it was his father Mario, togeter with More Hamrun director Adrian Agius, whom Casha said had no authority to appear on such a contract. Farrugia's claims were also challenged by More Supermar- ket's accountant Dennis Fran- calanza, disputing the claim that Farrugia – who ran the su- permarket's 'Sock Corner' out- let – could have poured in €1.5. million into the enterprise. Francalanza said it was in the time in May 2014 that Schembri "disappeared" to Croatia, that the operation was suddenly tak- en over by Darren Casha, Ray Camileri and Adrian Agius. Upon his return to Malta, Schembri set up Erom Trad- ing ('More' spelt backwards) and informed Francalanza that Edmond Mugliett would start doing the company's accounts. "On 17 October, as we were just about to wind up the Paceville outlet, a court marshall pre- sented us two garnishee orders, one of €1.5 million from Alex Farrugia, and the other of €2 million from Mugliett. We were surprised at the origin of these orders." Adrian Agius: phantom director? It is unclear what role Adrian Agius had in the running of the More Hamrun supermarket. Today, Agius is in prison fac- ing charges of having ordered the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop, who had loaned a sub- stantial sum, €750,000, to Ryan Schembri and Erom Trading. Together with Schembri's busi- ness partner Etienne Cassar, Agius was the debtor for the €750,000 loan. Agius had been one of the men first arrested by police in December 2017 in connection with the assassina- tion of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and later released on police bail. At the time, Schembri, Cassar and Agius, owned shares in an- other joint company called In- terAA Holdings. When prior to his arrest in 2020, Agius testified in the €3.5 million More debt case, Agi- us said he had no effective role in the running of the outlet. "I trusted Schembri with my eyes closed," he said, claiming his disinterest in the running of the business he was a director of was wantonly limited. "I passed on my shares to Darren Casha without collecting a cent, be- cause until then I expected that those shares would return once things get back on their feet... I just rested on Ryan's word, because I don't understand an- ything about supermarkets. Schembri would lead. But I did work from Ryan's office basi- cally. My office was his, and I would hear about things going on." And yet despite this kind of proximity, Agius claimed he was unaware of Schembri's plans for a bond issue with KPMG, but was easily convinced that More Supermarkets owed Schem- bri and Mugliett €3.5 million. "Schembri told me I had to sign as a guarantor for their debt. In truth this did not suit me... ap- parently it was money to Ryan for projects he was investing in." Casha's lawyer pointed out to Agius that he had been a share- holder from day one at More Supermarkets, yet right up until the share transfer to Casha, he had no idea of the Mugliett-Far- rugia loans. "Look, I didn't know because... I would just hear them talk in the office. I never cared much. My fault really..." Agius replied. The courts this week deter- mined that Mugliette's alleged €2 million loan, from compa- nies he claimed to be their ul- timate beneficial owner – All Seas Management and Blue Finance – was lacking all proof that the money loaned was used for equipment purchased by Cassar & Schembri Ltd; indeed, no money was ever received from the company. "Nothing kept Farrugia and Mugliette from filing injunc- tions in court to claim their debt... no evidence was submit- ted of their claims," the Court said, finding the constitution of debt to have been a false instru- ment all along. Supermarket's mystery financiers More Supermarkets owner, Ryan Schembri, was brought to Malta on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant in April 2022 having fled the island in 2014