Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/652704
A court has ordered Ryan Schembri (left) – the supermarket director who fled Malta after amassing some €40 million in debt – and his wife to pay €566,404 in unpaid home loans to Banif Bank. The bank had sued the Schembris through a special summary pro- cedure for money the couple had borrowed in three separate home loans between 2011 and 2012, along with interest and unpaid credit card debt. Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McK- eon in his ruling dismissed a plea by Schembri's legal curators to delay his decision pending a fair hearing to the former More Supermarket director, whom they were unable to trace themselves. Banif, represented by Elmer Grech, told the court that the Schembris had failed to pay €130,138, €54,074, and €377,317, along with interest, on three different home loans. They also had an outstanding balance of €4,337 on a Banif credit card and €538 in overdraft on a current ac- count. Two official warnings by the bank went unresponded, forcing it to sue the couple in court. Angie Schembri personally ap- peared in court in May last year – a more recent date than her hus- band's last known sighting – along with her defence lawyer, where she admitted to the bank's charges. Her husband never showed up in court and the legal curators ap- pointed for him by the court, Ben- jamin Valenzia and Alison Wadge, said he was "untraceable". Schembri, cousin of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, fled Malta in September 2014 with his wife and children af- ter he was threatened by loan sharks that his family would be hurt if he did not pay up. He was last spotted at a hotel in Dubai early last year. Schembri, co-owner of the firm Cassar & Schembri Marketing, used to trade food goods from Eu- rope to North Africa through his supermarket at the Palm City resi- dential complex in Tripoli. He was said to have hit it big with the importation of meat products from Brazil to Libya, and borrowed millions of euros from investors and loan sharks to expand this op- eration, promising high returns on investment. His firm also changed its bank- ing facilities to Banif after borrow- ing €930,000 from HSBC Malta. In 2011, Banif loaned Cassar & Schembri Marketing some €1 mil- lion to refinance their current fa- cilities held with HSBC, and to refinance their investment and capital expenditure at the Tripoli supermarket. Banif also accorded a €627,000 overdraft to the firm, and a €700,000 loan for Schembri's firm Interaa Holdings Ltd, to be utilized for the business's working capital requirements in connection with its Libya operations. However, the Libyan conflict hit his supermarket business hard, leaving him unable to repay the debt which had gone up to around €40 million. It is believed he fled Malta in September 2014, departing in his Mercedes to Sicily with his wife and children. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 MARCH 2016 News Fugitive supermarket owner ordered to pay Banif €566,404 Former supermarket director Ryan Schembri, who fled Malta after being threatened by loan sharks, is ordered to pay Banif Bank €566,404 in unpaid home loans