Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/424604
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 News 17 More Supermarkets creditors lining up in court MATTHEW AGIUS AN investigation into the legal claims against More Supermarkets and its owners Ryan Schembri and Etienne Cassar, has revealed the staggering amounts owed to some of the local creditors of the com- pany and its subsidiaries. Last October, More Supermar- kets at Daniels Shopping Complex in Hamrun ceased operating after unpaid electricity bills led to the supermarket's power supply being cut off. Around that time, Schembri is believed to have left Malta with his wife and son, after he amassed a reported €40 million in debt from loan sharks. While this sum cannot be con- firmed, MaltaToday has established that Schembri's other debts, regis- tered in the law courts and other notarial records, exceed the €7 mil- lion mark. These creditors include Prime Trading Ltd, owed €8,000, Agdel Ltd who are owed €380,000, entre- preneur Alexander Farrugia who is owed €1.5 million, and Edmond Mugliette who is owed a whopping €2 million by the company. Joseph Vella, the owner of the former Ta' Natu Supermarket in Mosta, sued the company ear- lier this year after it failed to pay €32,000 in energy bills and €187,700 in unpaid rent. Cint Operations Ltd had also called in a €560,000 loan. Accord- ing to official company records the €561,198 claim was filed back in June 2014. Earlier this week a judge post- poned a decision on whether to re- voke the injunction filed by Agdel Company Limited against More Su- permarkets. Lawyer Stefano Filletti, on behalf of Agdel Ltd, had told the court that his clients were owed €380,000, in- cluding €215,000 in unpaid rent, utility bills, and the maintenance of common areas. "More Supermarkets Hamrun Limited is using the corporate veil to try to wriggle out of its debt. To operate one supermarket, there are five other sister companies," said the lawyer, describing the fact as "very significant." The debts don't end there – Schembri and his firm Cassar & Schembri Marketing also have several outstanding business loans from local banks. After running up a debt of some €930,000 with HSBC Malta, another of Schembri's com- panies, Cassar and Schembri Mar- keting borrowed €1 million from Banif Bank to refinance the credit facilities held with HSBC Malta and to refinance their investment and capital expenditure at the Palm City Supermarket outside Tripoli, Libya. Banif also granted a €627,000 overdraft to Cassar & Schembri Ltd, as well as a separate €700,000 loan to Schembri's firm Interaa Holdings Ltd, for the business's working capital requirements of its Libyan operations. In spite of some initial success with the importation of meat products from Brazil, which generated generous profit margins, Schembri's ambitions to increase the scale of the meat importation operation required large loans. The business ran into trouble ear- lier this year after the conflict in Lib- ya made it impossible for Schembri to turn his Palm City supermarket operation into a viable business. the process invalid. Mr Justice Meli held that because the facts specified in the claim took place at a time that preceded the period covered by the articles of law upon which the claim is founded, the court could not make a ruling as it lacked jurisdiction. asbestos compensation lose civil case More Supermarkets' creditors' list Prime Trading €8,000 Agdel Ltd €380,000 Alexander Farrugia €1.5 million Edmond Mugliette €2 million Joseph Vella €220,000 Cint Operations €560,000 Banif Bank Over €1.5m Ryan Schembri