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Letters •
February 1 2004 |
Professor Ian Refalo
Valletta
I refer to an article which appeared in your newspaper of the 18 January, 2004, under the heading ‘Priceclub – Directors stashed thousands away as company collapsed.’ In that article reference is made to my client Mr. Lawrence Fino as having benefited from ‘Price Club’s millions. This is totally untrue and has no basis at all in fact. My client, Mr. Lawrence Fino, was not a director or shareholder in the Priceclub group of companies and in no way benefited from Priceclub funds as you allege.
I would invite you to consider the matter carefully. The report you refer to is an affidavit prepared by Mr. Zarb; it is by no means conclusive on the issues but is in part an opinion arrived at by Mr. Zarb. The proceedings in which that opinion was expressed forms part of proceedings in Court which are still sub judice and may not form the basis of a conclusion you seek to draw. More pertinently I am to point out that my client, Mr. Lawrence Fino, is not, has never been, and does not expect to be a party to those proceedings as he was never involved in the Priceclub business. Your allegation that he in some manner stood to gain from the Priceclub or that he was a director in the Priceclub group not only does not appear as founded in fact but I would think does not result even from the evidence of Mr. Zarb to which you refer.
Editors note: In MaltaToday 18 January 2004 it was stated that together with the owners and directors of Priceclub: "Lawrence Fino benefited from the companies millions."
In John Zarb’s testimony in court he states: "I have noted other loans made by Priceclub Operators Limited to companies by some or other of the shareholders/directors, benefiting them at the expense of the Company and its creditors for material amounts. These are listed below as they appear in PCO’s nominal ledger:
Lm
F&G Holdings Limited 74,365
F&G Marketing Limited –
insolvent company,
funds advanced in 2000 17,673
advanced in 2001 64,228
Total 156,266"
Lawrence Fino is a director of both F&G Holdings Limited and F&G Marketing Limited. He is also a shareholder in Mriehel Investments Ltd which in turn is a shareholder in F&G (Marketing) Ltd and F&G Holdings.
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