Adrian Delia denies ever meeting Yorgen Fenech after 17 Black connection emerged

Adrian Delia has denied ever meeting murder suspect Yorgen Fenech after news emerged that the businessman owned Dubai company 17 Black.

The Nationalist Party leader was forced to make a statement after the middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case, Melvin Theuma, claimed in court today that Fenech boasted with him of having lunched with Delia.

The meeting was supposed to have happened at Fenech’s ranch in Żebbuġ. It is unclear when this supposed lunch should have happened.

Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb in October 2017.

Theuma was given a presidential pardon to tell all.

In a statement released by the PN this evening, Delia is quoted saying: “I would like to declare in the most absolute and categorical manner that I have never met Yorgen Fenech after news emerged that he was involved in the company 17 Black.”

It was in November 2018 that Fenech was named by Reuters as the owner of the Dubai company 17 Black.

The company had been listed as a target client for the Panama companies opened by then minister Konrad Mizzi and prime minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri.

Fenech was arrested last November and charged with masterminding the murder of Caruana Galizia.

In his statement, Delia attached replies he had sent to Lovin’ Malta in April last year after the news portal enquired about his business relationship with Fenech.

Delia has answered “no” when asked whether he ever had any business or professional relationship with Fenech or any of his companies.

He did acknowledge meeting Fenech before the 17 Black story came out.

However, in his replies last year, Delia insisted that irrespective of the meeting he was not going to be cowed into not talking about corruption.

“No number of meetings, encounters, advertisements or whatever else one may consider as being an association of sorts, should ever be construed to indicate even remotely the possibility to dampen my fight against any kind of corruption. I have, still am and always will fight against corruption. Of all sorts. It is in my nature. It is how I was brought up. It is who I am. It is what I believe,” Delia had said, adding that no one will buy his silence.