A temping agent has been charged in court after allegedly conning about 280 third-country nationals into paying for a work contract in Malta which never materialised.
Immigration police pressed charges against Jonathan James Borg, 42, from Balzan as the suspect behind the racket through which the mainly Indian foreign workers entered Malta lured by promises of a job and accommodation.
Their hopes vanished once they reached their destination.
Matters came to a head when Borg’s boss at the company where he worked as an accountant began to receive calls from total strangers complaining that he had not kept his promise to provide them with a job and adequate accommodation in Malta.
Police investigations revealed that the third-country nationals had arrived in Malta on the strength of false travel and employment documents.
Those documents were traced to Borg.
Each of the migrants allegedly paid some €4,000 only to end up with no job and nowhere to go.
Borg pleaded not guilty to being involved in a human trafficking conspiracy for personal gain, assisting foreign workers to enter Malta in breach of immigration laws, unauthorised use of electronic data, tampering with such data, software or documentation as well as document fraud.
He was also charged with breaching an attachment order issued in terms of anti-money laundering legislation and with allegedly committing these offences while under two suspended sentences handed down in 2019. He was further charged with relapsing.
He pleaded not guilty.
Man's address traced through food delivery app
The prosecution objected to a request for bail because civilian witnesses are still to testify and the accused breached previous court orders.
The prosecution also pointed out that tracking down the accused’s address had delayed investigations. In a previous case, Borg had cited his parents’ address.
But it was obvious that he did not live there. His actual address was tracked down by the police through a food delivery app.
Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, turned down the request for bail, deeming the accused not sufficiently trustworthy and also because several witnesses were still to testify.
The court upheld a request for a freezing order over all assets of the accused.
AG lawyer Nathaniel Falzon and Inspector Karl Roberts prosecuted.
Lawyer Ezekiel Psaila was defence counsel. Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca are representing the company.