Ryan Schembri fled Malta to escape loan sharks.

Ryan Schembri, the former owner of More supermarkets who left Malta owing millions, entered into a promise of sale agreement for a €1.2 million Marsascala property when he already knew he was in trouble.

His business partner, Etienne Cassar, told Times of Malta he became aware of this deal only two weeks ago.

Last week, he had to pull himself out of the agreement Mr Schembri had signed on behalf of the company they both owned. It was an agreement “a 10-year-old would never have signed”, according to Mr Cassar.

“The agreement was not subject to any bank loan, not subject to the acquisition of a permit, not subject to anything. The agreement was that if Ryan would not manage the payment, he would lose the deposit. It was an agreement that made no sense,” Mr Cassar said.

The property was meant to be used for More supermarkets, the chain they owned at the time.

Mr Schembri entered into the agreement at the start of the year, when he must have already known he was in trouble, according to Mr Cassar.

The More chain of supermarkets was transferred to new owners in May, but the current owner has always maintained that negotiations for the takeover had started in February.

“To enter into a promise of sale agreement on a €1.2 million property is no small thing. And he did it at a time when he already knew there were problems,” he said.

Mr Cassar told Times of Malta he was still discovering financial commitments as the weeks go by since Mr Schembri’s sudden disappearance towards the end of September. He fled with his wife and son after he was threatened by loan sharks that his son would be harmed if he did not pay up.

His escape has left a trail of debt, with investors and creditors scrambling to recoup their losses.

I don’t know whether he’s dead or alive

Asked whether he had any information on Mr Schembri’s whereabouts or whether his wife and child were safe, Mr Cassar said: “I have no idea whether he’s dead or alive.”

Co-owner and director of Cassar and Schembri (Marketing) Limited, Mr Schembri attracted entrepreneurs to invest millions of euros in an ambitious import-export operation by promising high returns on investment.

Mr Schembri was involved in the shipment of meat from Brazil to other countries. Initially, repayments to investors were occurring on a regular basis but he seems to have encountered problems last April and that is when he started to have financial difficulties.

Mr Schembri did not need Mr Cassar’s signature to enter into agreements.

“It was either me or him who had to sign. We always had a great trust in each other. I never questioned whether I had to sign everything,” Mr Cassar said.

“We had a big operation to manage and getting involved in everything would have been difficult. But he clearly abused of the situation. He signed things involving a lot of money that he never discussed with me,” he added.

There was another promise of sale agreement Mr Schembri entered into for a Rabat property that Mr Cassar had no idea about.

“We had seen it together but I told him I wasn’t interested because it didn’t suit our needs.

“At the time we were considering the outlet in Żebbuġ and it was too close.

“But he made the agreement anyway, even though he managed to get out of that before he left the island. I only learnt about this recently,” he said.