Christian Borg walks away from multi-million tax fraud charges
Car dealer is the latest person to benefit from a new law designed to expedite financial crime cases
Christian Borg has walked away from multi-million euro money laundering and tax evasion charges after striking a deal with authorities.
The car dealer had a criminal case against him and several of his companies extinguished on Wednesday on the strength of a new law passed by parliament last year.
Times of Malta had revealed back in March that Borg was close to having the case against him dropped.
Magistrate Leonard Caruana on Wednesday ruled that the criminal action against Borg is extinct.
This also applied to companies Princess Construction Limited, Princess Holdings Ltd, Princess Operations Limited, Zing Rental Limited and No Deposit Cars Limited. The magistrate revoked freezing orders linked to Borg and the above companies.
No details about the financial settlement Borg reached with tax authorities were disclosed in court.
The case against co-accused Monique Mizzi, and the company Lion Funding Limited, will continue after the court ordered a separation of the cases.
Mizzi’s case is also expected to end: a tax commissioner representative testified that Mizzi had, on Monday, reached an agreement with the Tax Commissioner through her personal capacity and Lion Funding to pay an administrative penalty of €1 million on the full amount she was accused on.
Borg and his companies were 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.
A court heard in 2024 how 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.
The car dealer is also facing separate criminal charges in relation to an alleged kidnapping. One of his companies is the subject of a magisterial inquiry.
Last year, Abela’s government pushed through a law allowing people caught evading tax to reach an out-of-court settlement with the tax authorities, therefore avoiding criminal prosecution. The prime minister is a former legal advisor to Borg and profited from a 2018 property deal with him.
Lawyer Aron Mifsud Bonnici and accountant Nigel Scerri have already walked away from money laundering and tax evasion charges under similar deals.
Parliament was told last month that 16 people charged with money laundering, tax evasion and other such fines have struck deals with authorities so far. The deals will see those individuals repay taxes they owe through repayment plans, as well as fines in exchange for having criminal charges dropped.