Richard Zammit, a shareholder of Malta & Europe Hotels Ltd, ex owners of The Grand Hotel Excelsior in Floriana, has joined the fight put up by majority shareholder Michele Martone to recoup the funds he invested in the company around 40 years ago.

Writing in the website marteitaliano.com.mt, Mr Zammit said he has been a shareholder of Malta & Europe Hotels Ltd since its inception in 1966.

“I know this company met with some financial difficulties during the construction work of The Grand Hotel Excelsior, but I also know that after opening to receive guests in July 1972, it fared quite well during the tourist boom for a few number of years thus making quite a nice margin of profit, which was never distributed to us shareholders,” he said.

Apparently, since the company during the construction work received some financial assistance from the Bical Group, and because the company had given on lease the hotel to one of the Paces’ companies, it was put under controllership together with all the other Paces’ companies, even though it was not a Pace company.

Personally, Mr Zammit said, “I had given up all hopes of ever receiving any dividends for my poor investment, but I never imagined, and I am sure only few people know, of the harassment Dr Martone went and is still going through.

“To make it even worse, during one of the court cases in which the company was asking for the rent due, the Controller represented both the creditor (the company) and the debtor (Paces’ company, Pabros Ltd). What a joke!” The Controller could only sell the Hotel Excelsior for more than Lm2,500,000 after Dr Martone accepted to withdraw a Prohibitory Injunction decreed by the court prohibiting the sale of the same hotel. The request for this injunction was made by Dr Martone himself, and he accepted to lift it only after the Controller committed himself, and the then Minister of Finance on behalf of the Government of Malta guaranteed that the sum in respect of the share pertaining to Dr Martone, would be invested in the best interest rendering account, whether in local or foreign currency, and this to the satisfaction of Dr Martone, and will remain so until the final distribution of the whole shareholding. This happened in September 1991!

The Controller never informed Dr Martone what was happening with his money, so in order to safeguard his interests Dr Martone has now sequestered the amounts the Controller says he is holding in the name of the depositors.

“Now just imagine an

83-year-old Italian gentleman having to fight on his own for 16 years away from home, bearing alone all the expenses, and in the meantime, also, undergoing heart surgery,” Mr Zammit said.

“Apparently not even the Italian authorities are giving him a helping hand with the Maltese government, which, while doing its utmost to help the immigrants, completely ignores the rights of a European citizen.