Nationalist deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami after being challenged yesterday on how well he knew the man at the centre of a property scandal insisted that Marco Gaffarena had gained nothing from their acquaintance.

Dr Fenech Adami was reacting to a Facebook post uploaded yesterday on the social media profile of Mr Gaffarena’s wife, Josielle.

In the post, signed by Mr Gaffarena, Dr Fenech Adami was accused of lying when he said during a news conference on Friday that might have met the Gaffarena family socially but could not say how often.

Mr Gaffarena said: “Did you meet Mark Gaffarena only once? Have you forgotten how many times I took you home to Għargħur before you were a PN candidate?”

Reacting, Dr Fenech Adami said he could not recall being taken home in Mr Gaffarena’s car, adding: “The moral of the story is that any acquaintance I had with Gaffarena did not benefit him financially. It didn’t help him politically and that’s why he went to Labour.”

In recent weeks Mr Gaffarena has been linked to several political scandals revealed by the Times of Malta after he bought and re-sold property in Old Mint Street in two deals in a controversial €1.65 million government expropriation.

His business ties former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit and his sons Daniel, a former inspector, and Roderick were also highlighted last week in an inquiry by a former judge. Mr Gaffarena also asked whether Dr Fenech Adami had forgotten how many times they had socialised together in the past and also whether he failed to recall that the PN deputy leader’s wife had done work for the family as a notary.

A screenshot of the post about Beppe Fenech Adami (top) uploaded on the Facebook profile of the wife of Mark Gaffarena (bottom).

Dr Fenech Adami insisted that they had never gone out socially together but had been invited to the same events – a birthday party at Villa Arrigo and a barbeque in Żebbug. He said there were a large number of guests at both events.

He also said his wife had done some work for Mr Gaffarena in 2003 or 2004 when he was not even a party candidate.

I did not help him politically and that’s why he went to Labour

Dr Fenech Adami said he had “absolutely no idea” what Mr Gaffarena was referring to when he alleged that the PN leader had asked him to intervene in an issue with an unnamed third party. “My acquaintance did not pay him – he wanted a permit and moved to Labour. He got his permit and went for more,” he said.

The Sunday Times of Malta had also revealed that Mr Gaffarena had also negotiated with the owners of Palazzo Verdelin in Valletta, which at present houses the police station, to buy their property for €3.5 million in order to sell it to the government at a profit.

However, following the revelations over the deals involving Old Mint Street, negotiations between Mr Gaffarena and the owners were halted.