Christian Borg pleaded not guilty to money laundering and tax fraud when he was arraigned on Tuesday afternoon, alongside his girlfriend and six of his companies.
The 31-year-old notorious car rental entrepreneur from St Julian’s and Monique Mizzi, 26, from Paola, were charged together with Princess Construction Limited, Princess Holdings Ltd, Princess Operations Limited, Zing Rental Limited, No Deposit Cars Limited and Lion Funding Limited with money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Borg and the companies were further charged with evading income tax and VAT, making false declarations for tax purposes, defrauding the Tax Commissioner and making fraudulent gains to the detriment of the government.
Company director Joseph Camenzuli was also in court as the legal representative of Borg’s companies.
The court heard that criminal investigations were triggered by a request by the VAT department after Borg allegedly filed invoices for “hundreds of thousands of euros” and claimed VAT refunds on amounts classified as expenses.
Inspector Tonjoe Farrugia said the investigation concluded that millions had been defrauded to the detriment of the VAT department.
The prosecution requested a freezing order over all assets of the defendants, given the money laundering charge.
In light of recent amendments to the law on freezing orders, the specific amount to be frozen would be indicated by the prosecution within 90 days.
A request for bail was objected to, at the risk of tampering with evidence.
AG lawyer Francesco Refalo pointed out that a number of civilians who “unknowingly” assisted Borg in the commission of these crimes were expected to testify.
Although this investigation had been ongoing for several years, not all civilian witnesses had testified before the inquiring magistrate.
The case involved the issuing of VAT receipts and VAT unduly claimed by the defendants.
Defence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell rebutted that Borg and Mizzi had been aware of the ongoing investigation for “months if not years” and had been on police bail. They had always abided by bail conditions.
Moreover, Mizzi had a young son and never had any previous brush with the law.
After hearing submissions the court, presided over by Magistrate Elaine Rizzo, upheld the request because evidence was preserved by means of the magisterial inquiry.
Bail was granted under a number of conditions including a €35,000 deposit and a €60,000 personal guarantee for Borg and a €15,000 deposit and €40,000 personal guarantee for Mizzi.
AG lawyers Francesco Refalo, Rebekah Spiteri and Mauro Abela are prosecuting together with inspectors Robert Azzopardi and Tonjoe Farrugia.
Borg was thrust into the national spotlight back in 2022 when he was one of four men charged with a botched kidnapping.
A court heard how he and his associates allegedly threatened to torture their victim and rape his sister.
Borg is also a central figure in suspicious property deals involving Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The deal, first exposed by Times of Malta had netted Abela €45,000 but the timeline of events raises suspicions over why he entered a contract to buy a field only to transfer his stake in that contract to Borg just a few months later.
At the time, Abela had been the Planning Authority’s legal advisor and he entered the deal only after permits had been issued to develop the plot.
Borg's property purchases have also raised eyebrows amongst investigators. Most of these property purchases, which include a luxury penthouse with a rooftop pool and a massive villa, were not funded by bank loans or even withdrawals from his local bank accounts.
Times of Malta has previously reported how some of the property purchases were partly funded by luxury car swaps.