Adrian Delia allegedly messaged Yorgen Fenech during a parliamentary debate on 17 Black, Fenech’s Dubai-based company linked to government corruption. 

Well-informed sources have told Lovin Malta that Fenech made the claim in a text message conversation with a well-known businesswoman, boasting of his links to Malta’s politicians. 

Delia, who was PN leader at the time, had actually called for the urgent motion to be discussed after Fenech had been outed as the owner of 17 Black. Delia has denied Fenech’s claims.

Fenech claimed that Delia was among a number of people who messaged him to raise concerns over MP Rosianne Cutajar’s “overly emotional” intervention during the parliamentary debate. 

The debate happened on 12th November 2018, soon after the 17 Black reveal. Fenech was arrested over the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia a year later.

During the emergency sitting, Cutajar was one of several MPs who rebutted corruption claims launched by the opposition.

Cutajar, who at the time was also employed by OPM, called then-PN MP Simon Busuttil an “embittered loser” and insisted that it was only the Opposition who was concerned about Malta’s reputation.

This is not the only time Delia and Fenech’s relationship has been laid bare. 

Some WhatsApp messages that Fenech and Delia exchanged in 2019 have already been revealed by the Times of Malta. Meanwhile, Lovin Malta had revealed a wealth of exchanges between Fenech and his right-hand man Pierre Portelli, which included plans to leak information on internal party rivals.

Portelli and Delia are also currently subject to a magisterial inquiry concerning claims that they accepted regular payments from Fenech, which some have suggested could have been a bribe.

Under court testimony, Keith Schembri claimed that Portelli would meet Fenech once a month to collect €20,000. Meanwhile, he also claimed that Delia took €50,000 from Fenech to ensure that PN MEP David Casa was not re-elected during the 2019 European Parliament elections.

The pair have both vociferously denied the claim.