BREAKING/Adrian Delia’s ‘audit’ is being carried out by the girlfriend of his campaign aide

This website can reveal that the much-vaunted audit of Adrian Delia’s financial affairs, based on documents he himself gives the auditor, is being carried out by none other than the girlfriend of his key campaign aide, Pierre Paul Portelli.

Rebekah Barthet is senior associate/audit at Mazars, the firm which Delia announced would be carrying out his audit.

Under pressure to clear up the many questions raised by his personal debt of €728,000 and his personal surety for the €7.2 million still owed to HSBC after the failure of a flats development project in Mgarr, Gozo, the Nationalist Party leadership contender made the Konradesque announcement that he “would ask for an audit into his financial affairs”. The party councillors have voted, the first round of party members voted today, and the audit has yet to materialise.

Whether it does or doesn’t is academic in any case, because an audit of this nature is not an investigation. It is simply an audit of whatever the client chooses to give the auditor, and the auditor is not empowered or commissioned to investigate but to audit the documents provided – which in a situation like this, as with Konrad Mizzi, is completely useless for public information purposes.

(Left to right) Sliema councillor John Pillow, Adrian Delia, Sliema councillor Pierre Paul Portelli, who is a key member of Delia’s campaign team

Rebekah Barthet, senior associated/audit at Mazars, is in a relationship with Adrian Delia’s key campaign aide, Pierre Paul Portelli