Christian Borg in legal wrangle over ‘fake’ €160,000 debt claim

Christian Borg has lost an appeal over a €160,000 debt claim that was allegedly based on a “fabricated” document. 

The car dealer had sued lift supplier Christopher Camilleri over claims that Camilleri had reneged on a private agreement to pay him €160,000 in damages for failing to meet deadlines to install two lifts at the No Deposit Cars showroom in Qormi. 

Camilleri testified in the civil case that he had never signed such an agreement and only became aware of the document after Borg filed the lawsuit against him. 

He said the lifts were, in fact, installed but never turned on due to “serious defects” which Borg failed to address, meaning that the lifts could never be certified for operation at the car showroom. 

Borg sued Camilleri for the money in 2020 and also hit him with a garnishee order to freeze €160,000 in his accounts. 

Last year, a court rejected Borg’s claim for the payment and said the signature on the disputed agreement was visibly different from the one found on the original contract Camilleri had signed to deliver the two lifts. 

The court noted how Borg failed to produce the original version of the disputed agreement, instead only presenting a copy. 

It was further observed by the court that even the identity card number on the disputed document presented by Borg was incorrect. 

Borg also chose not to cross-examine Camilleri and attack his sworn testimony that the agreement was falsified, the court continued.

Investigation

Apart from rejecting Borg’s claim for the payment, Mr Justice Henri Mizzi called for an investigation to locate the original copy of the alleged agreement, establish who signed it and carry out further investigations from there. 

An appeal by Borg against the court’s decision was dismissed this week. 

Borg argued in the appeal that the original court had wrongly refused his request for further time to file evidence. He further argued that, even based on the available evidence, the court should still have accepted the disputed agreement as enforceable.

The appeals court rejected these arguments, stating that Borg had been given substantial time and multiple chances to present his evidence and that the explanations he gave for not doing so were not sufficient. 

It was further emphasised by the appeals court that Borg never produced the original document and never took steps to establish its authenticity. 

Borg is no stranger to court battles. 

Earlier this month, he walked away from multi-million-euro money laundering and tax evasion charges after striking a deal with the tax authorities based on a contentious new law passed by Robert Abela’s government. 

The law allows people caught evading tax to reach an out-of-court settlement with the tax authorities, therefore extinguishing ongoing cases or avoiding criminal prosecution.

Abela is a former legal adviser to Borg and profited from a 2018 property deal with him.