A married couple handed an unemployed woman €35,000 to invest in a detergent business that did not exist, they told a court.
The couple were among various people who took the witness stand to describe how they had been tricked out of their money by Tanya Borg, an unemployed 35-year-old mother-of-three accused of defrauding 12 people out of more than €100,000.
Ms Borg allegedly enticed them to invest in the “lucrative” business alongside “important people such as police inspectors, lawyers and established entrepreneurs”.
Several of her alleged victims took the witness stand on Friday and described how they had lost money to the fradulent scheme, with Ms Borg first whetting their appetite with the promise of great profits, only to break off contact once her victims demanded their money back.
A married couple, who had sold their matrimonial home and had some spare cash safely tucked away, had been lured into investing €35,000 in the scam after Ms Borg allegedly bragged how the business “had made her rich”.
After convincing a friend to also place €10,000 in the scheme, the couple soon realised that they had been taken for a ride. Constant requests for their money back were always met with excuses and calls on the woman’s mobile phone went unanswered.
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Ms Borg had once sought to reassure them by turning up for an appointment with a man she introduced as “Kevin, the son of the owner of the detergent business”, even pretending to speak to the father on his mobile in the presence of the couple.
Cheques she handed to the couple had bounced, and the husband and wife had ultimately only recouped one-tenth of their “investment”.
A Gozitan woman told the court she had been told of Ms Borg by another investor, and later met her outside a Victoria shopping mall and handed her over €5,000 in cash and two unendorsed cheques for €2,500 each.
Ms Borg had taken the money without even bothering to count the cash, the woman testified, returning at a later date with the pre-signed document for her to sign.
When she later began demanded her money back, Ms Borg would never answer her calls, breaking off all communication with her.
Another Gozitan told the court how his daughter had bumped into the accused, a former acquaintance, when purchasing property in Malta and had been encouraged to invest in the profitable business.
When his daughter turned to him for funds, the man had withdrawn some €18,000 from the bank and handed them a further €2,000 in cash.
But when the man was presented with a pre-signed document bearing no witness to signature, he smelled a rat. After speaking to a fellow Gozitan investor, the man soon confirmed his suspicions that “Tanya was lying,” he told the court.
Ultimately, he had managed to recover €13,000 out of the €20,000 originally deposited in the bogus scheme.
Magistrate Doreen Clarke granted the woman bail against a deposit of €5,000 and an obligation to sign the bail book three times a week. The case continues.
Inspectors Ann Marie Xuereb and Elton Taliana prosecuted. Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.