Companies clash over More Supermarket’s €380,000 in unpaid bills

A decision on whether to revoke an injunction granted to a company, which says it is owed €380,000 in outstanding rent and utility bills by More Supermarkets in Hamrun, has been postponed until January.

The decision was handed down this morning by Judge Mark Chetcuti after two companies, More Supermarkets Limited and Agdel Company Limited, clashed over the unpaid bills.

Lawyer Stefano Filletti, on behalf of Agdel Ltd, told the court that his clients were owed €380,000, including €215,000 in unpaid rent, utility bills, and the maintenance of common areas.

In October, More Supermarkets at Daniels Shopping Complex in Hamrun closed down due to unpaid Enemalta bills. Subsequently, a court upheld a request to issue a garnishee order against More Supermarkets (Hamrun) Ltd, effectively leaving it unable to access its property.

One of the directors of Cassar and Schembri Ltd is Ryan Schembri, who in September fled Malta after allegedly amassing €40 million in debt to businessmen and loan sharks.

However, More Supermarkets Ltd requested that the court revokes the garnishee order because it does not have any contractual relationship with Agdel Company Limited, and that in reality, the unpaid bills should be borne Schembri’s company.

Rebutting the claims, Agdel Company Limited, which has a share in DA Holdings Limited, the owners of the shopping complex in Hamrun, said that in May, More Supermarkets Hamrun Ltd had purchased the shares of Cassar and Schembri Limited.

Moreover, More Supermarkets Ltd wrote to Agdel Limited requesting that rental invoices be issued to the company, lawyer Stefano Filletti said.

Appearing on behalf of Agdel Company Limited, Filletti argued that the garnishee order is justified in so far as it guarantees that some of the owed bills are recouped.

“From what we are seeing in the newspapers, there is little chance of recouping the owed funds, so consequently, freezing the company’s assets is one way of getting what is owed. More Supermarkets wanted to be recognised as the new tenant so the contractual relationship is obvious,” he said.

Notwithstanding this, Lawyer James D’ Agostino, representing More Supermarkets Ltd, said his clients are not leasing the supermarket from Agdel Ltd. and that any claims of sub-letting must be sufficiently proven.

“There is no evidence that there was a sub-letting or any other relationship. Even though there were exchanges of payments and invoices, this does not necessarily mean that there was a contract of lease between them.”

“Agdel Ltd is clutching at straws because of the mess that Ryan Schembri left behind him,” D’Agostino said.

Rebutting the defendant’s claims, Filletti argued that More Supermarkets was abusing of its corporate veil because there are five other companies behind the operations of the supermarket.

While insisting that the revocation of the garnishee order would be “prejudicial” to his client, Filletti acknowledged that his clients had made a mistake in trusting the directors of More Supermarkets Ltd.

The case has been postponed until January 12.