Ryan Schembri left Malta in late September with his wife and son after receiving threats.

A leading meat importer vanished from the country with his family after loan sharks threatened to harm his son but he is also being sought by police after running into serious financial problems with investors and suppliers.

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

When he faced difficulties repaying the investors, sources told Times of Malta, he appears to have turned to loan sharks who recently started to threaten him, claiming his son would be harmed if he failed to pay.

Police are investigating the case and are looking for Mr Schembri. Local entrepreneurs say he owes different investors a total of some €40 million.

Police sources however said the figure could still not be verified since the investigation has only just started. Investors need to provide the documentation proving the amount given to Mr Schembri and this information is still being gathered. Industry sources said that the entry level for prospective investors was €200,000. Fraud is not being excluded.

Mr Schembri left Malta with his wife and son in late September. Sources said he probably absconded to Sicily during the weekend when the country was celebrating its 50 years of independence.

He 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 faltering with repayments to both investors and suppliers.

Ecofrost, a Belgian supplier of frozen potatoes, yesterday told Times of Malta that Mr Schembri’s company took from them four truckloads of goods worth €70,000 in April and May without eventually paying for them.

Ryan Schembri pictured with his son.

“They disappeared from one day to the next. It was very strange. We are suspecting it is fraud, because if a company has financial difficulties then these problems should be ­discussed and an agreement is reached. So we can only suspect they have walked away with the money,” said Sabine Defauw, on behalf of Ecofrost products.

She appealed to any local retailers selling their products to provide any information they may have to the company. Ms Defauw said their insurance company also tried contacting Mr Schembri’s company.

It seems evident from documentation provided to the Malta Financial Services Authority that the companies owned by Mr Schembri started to experience difficulties around the time the company owners were in contact with Ecofrost.

The company’s audited accounts for 2012, the latest submitted to the MFSA, show no indication of serious problems at the time. However, although Cassar and Schembri (Marketing) Limited had a turnover above €13 million, its profit for the year was €626,459 – less than five per cent.

This was only one of three companies established by Mr Schembri with others. The other two companies in which he is a shareholder are Daily Needs Limited and Food World Limited.

Food World Limited has the same registered address as Cassar and Schembri (Marketing) Limited and the same directors. Its financial declarations for 2012 show it had a revenue of more than €6 million, yet reported a profit of only €25,000.

Cassar and Schembri (Marketing) Limited is also a shareholder in Daily Needs Limited, a company that registered a loss of €20,421 in 2012.

The auditor and another director of the companies resigned during the key period between last June and July, according to documents submitted to the MFSA.

Mr Schembri was also a partner in the More supermarket chain until he was bought out.

He is the cousin of the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, who yesterday disassociated himself from the controversy.

“I have absolutely no association with my cousin. We were not connected through business or in any way and have had no connection in the past and present,” the OPM’s chief of staff told Times of Malta.