Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/398422
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2014 3 News Sri Lankan firm owed €560,000 by Schembri MATTHEW VELLA THE owner of the Mosta premises housing a supermarket from the More franchise – whose former shareholder is businessman Ryan Schembri, 36 – has sued Schembri's business Cassar & Schembri Mar- keting for unpaid rent and energy bills. Joseph Vella, the owner of the former Ta' Natu Supermarket in Mosta, sued Ryan Schembri and Etienne Cassar's business firm, for failing to pay €32,000 in energy bills, and €187,700 in unpaid rent. Schembri is believed to have left the island with his wife and son, having amassed a reported €40 mil- lion in debts from loan sharks. While this sum cannot be quan- tified, MaltaToday has established that Schembri's debts are already over €5 million, with debtors calling on the former supermarket owner to pay up. This newspaper is also informed that a Sri Lankan firm with a Mal- tese business address, has called on Schembri's firm to honour a €560,000 loan. According to official company records, Cint Operations Ltd – housed in the offices of account- ants Horwath Malta – filed for the €561,198 claim in the Maltese law courts back in June 2014. Despite the huge sum demanded, both Cint Operations and parent company Cint Holdings appear to have negligible assets: 2011 records show total asset values of less than €2,000 for both compa- nies and negligible profits of less than €500. While in June 2012, Schembri and his wife purchased a villa in Mellieha's lavish Santa Marija estate for an impressive €535,000, within 16 months he would be chased for millions in debts he amassed for his expanding food business. As recently as last June, Schem- bri and his firm Cassar & Schembri Marketing, together with the More Supermarkets franchise, were reg- istered as debtors of entrepreneur Edmond Mugliett for €2 million in capital, at the highest interest rate permissible at law. The money had been loaned by various companies. Schembri, his firm and the More chain also borrowed €1.5 million, at the highest interest rate possible, from businessman Alexander Far- rugia. After borrowing as much as €930,000 from HSBC Malta, Schem- bri and his firm changed banking facilities to Banif Bank. In 2011, Banif forwarded Cassar & Schembri Marketing €1 million to refinance current facilities held with HSBC Malta, and to refinance their in- vestment and capital expenditure at the Palm City Supermarket outside Tripoli, Libya. Banif also accorded a €627,000 overdraft to Cassar & Schembri, and another €700,000 loan for Schem- bri's firm Interaa Holdings Ltd, to be utilised for the business's work- ing capital requirements in connec- tion with its Libya operations. The conflict in Libya made it im- possible for Schembri to turn his Palm City supermarket operation into a viable business, despite hav- ing been a link for his food import business to the North African coun- try. Schembri was said to have hit it big with the importation of meat prod- ucts from Brazil, which generated generous profit margins. His ambition for a larger opera- tion, requiring large loans to keep up with larger consignments of meat imports, hit hard times some time during 2014. Schembri's other business part- ner in the firm is Etienne Cassar, who also is a co-shareholder with Schembri in Food World Ltd. Cassar & Schembri own interests in the firms Sant Andrija Develop- ments, Interaa Holdings, and Ipco Ltd. Schembri was also a director in the More Supermarkets franchise, which has operations in Fgura, Hamrun, Mosta, Paceville and Val- letta. The owners of the More Super- markets chain are, according to company records, D.More Hold- ings, which was constituted in May 2014. D.More Holdings's sole direc- tor is Darren Casha, who appears as a personal shareholder for 75% of the company; while Vice Holdings owns the other 25%. Vice Holdings is equally owned by Casha; AZ Investments, whose ben- eficial owner is property entrepre- neur Adrian Zammit; and Raymond Camilleri, of Villino Chapelle in St Paul's Bay. On its part, D.More Holdings owns 100% stakes in Erom Ltd, and Erom Trading Ltd. European police on two-week hunt for 'irregular' migrants CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 During the 14-day Operation Mos Maiorum, some 20,000 police officers will stake out border crossings, railway stations, bus depots, and highways throughout Europe to apprehend so-called irregular migrants – peo- ple living without permission. The operation is the brainchild of the Italian presidency of the Euro- pean Council. No clear data exist on the number of irregular migrants in the Euro- pean Union, but unofficial estimates range between 150,000 to 450,000 people. Mos Maiorum is to be coordinated by the Italian Ministry of the Inte- rior's Central Directorate for Immi- gration and Border Police, in "close cooperation" with the EU's border control agency Frontex. "The agency was invited by the Italian Presidency to provide sup- port to the operation in the area of risk analysis. This means that the agency will only provide the Italian Presidency with statistics and data analysis of the migratory flows at external borders of the European Union," Frontex said. Frontex said the operation was not a border control operation but 'intra-Schengen' and of 'police coop- eration' nature, which are not within the mandate of Frontex. Currently it is unknown which member states have chosen to par- ticipate, but previous operations have involved the majority of mem- ber states. According to a report on the Ger- man website Heise, the focus of the operation will be transport hubs – railway stations, motorways, roads and airports – and will involve thousands of officers. The paper circulated to Member States' delegations in the Council outlined the main goals: • Apprehend irregular mi- grants and gather relevant informa- tion for intelligence and investiga- tive purposes; • Identify, prosecute and disrupt organised crime groups; • Give a clear and updated situation picture concerning the operational area, modus operandi, main trends and possible rapid changes in these aspects; • Consolidate joint meas- ures to achieve an impact on illegal immigration (border checks and border surveillance activities); • Carry out (based on the outcomes of the risk analysis), con- trol along the main routes of illegal immigration on the main routes fol- lowed by illegal migrant networks (within the Schengen Area and at the external borders); • Collect and analyse infor- mation related to the so-called sec- ondary movement This data is used to create "a ho- listic view of illegal immigration f lows for the entire internal Schen- gen space" – therefore allowing for more efficient planning at EU level. The operation preceding Mos Maiorum was 'Aerodromos', or- ganised by the Greek Presidency of the Council, which targeted 39 airports across the EU. Prior to Aerodromos was Perku- nas, organised by the Lithuanian Presidency, during which appre- hensions made by police and bor- der forces from 25 states aimed at "identifying the link between il- legal EU external border crossings and secondary movements of ir- regular migrants." A total of 10,459 irregular migrants were "intercept- ed" during the operation. Aphrodite, an operation which took place during October and No- vember 2012, saw 5,298 individu- als apprehended. A long-standing project initiated by Austria and Hungary, FIMATHU, has led to the apprehension of thousands more undocumented migrants. EXPANDING BUSINESS HORIZONS The Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Business is holding the Malta SME Week from the 17 till the 28 October 2014. Join us for an exciting week filled with activities, focusing on opportunities for SMEs. Activities include Workshops for female and young entrapreneurs, seminars on cooperatives and internationalisation, and crafts conference. To view the latest updates please visit https://meib.gov.mt MALTA SME WEEK 2014 17 - 28 OCTOBER Ta' Natu Supermarket chasing More Supermarkets for €219,000 in rent for Mosta outlet Ryan Schembri