Updated 6pm with MVRLA statement
Tourists driving rental cars while on holiday in Malta were unknowingly fined for traffic contraventions committed by local drivers in an alleged complex fraudulent racket operated by LESA officials, swindling millions of euros out of public coffers.
Details were divulged on Friday by lawyer Jason Azzopardi, in a court application requesting a magisterial probe into what he claims is a years-long racket involving the public agency, its top officials and private car hire companies.
He alleges that one of the key beneficiaries of this scheme was WT Global, which operates Malta's largest fleet of Y-Plate cabs. Azzopardi claims hundreds of penalty points incurred by its drivers were “pardoned” in such a manner.
In a court application, Azzopardi claims tourists were lumped with traffic fines for contraventions committed by Labour-leaning locals. He has also claimed that fines that car rental companies charged unsuspecting tourists were never paid into LESA’s coffers, effectively defrauding the state of millions.
Azzopardi claims that the racket had been ongoing for years, at least since 2021, and was fine-tuned to function with the “precision of a Swiss watch.”
In a statement issued through its CEO Svetlick Flores, LESA denied Azzopardi's claims and said it was willing to "fully collaborate with any investigation" into them.
It is not the first time that LESA has been alleged to have tampered with its software systems to shield contravenors from fines and penalty points. In 2021, multiple sources had told Times of Malta that LESA had forgiven fines for politicians, top businessmen and other top officials.
'Standard operating procedure'
In a lengthy court application, Azzopardi laid out the alleged racket.
LESA, the Local Enforcement System Agency, is responsible for levying fines for traffic contraventions such as double parking, speeding or driving the wrong way. It also deducts penalty points from contravenors’ licences.
Azzopardi alleges that in some cases, specific contravenors who broke traffic rules were helped to avoid fines and penalty point deductions by LESA CEO Svetlik Flores and customer care official Neville Camilleri.
Camilleri is also a Paola local councillor on Labour’s ticket.
Through their privileged “backdoor” access to the agency’s servers, these two officials allegedly manipulated data to transfer fines and penalty points onto tourists who happened to be driving rental cars that day.
Azzopardi claims LESA had access to car rental agreements signed between tourists and rental firms.
Grasping the workings of the racket
Azzopardi claims that Flores and Camilleri forged tourists’ signatures on fake agreements to make it seem that the tourist had agreed to the transfer of penalty points under his or her name.
Those tourists were none the wiser as penalty points did not affect their driving licence in their home countries.
But in this case, the tourist would not even be aware of the points added to his name.
The local driver who committed the traffic contravention would therefore be spared those points and hang onto their driving licence.
Azzopardi has also alleged that Flores and Camilleri received payments in exchange of their work on this racket. Camilleri, he has claimed, also received gifts.
A win-win situation
Car rental companies are authorised to charge customers’ credit cards for any fines accrued during their vehicle rental period.
Fines levied through this alleged racket often went uncontested as tourists could not be bothered to contest them from overseas. Azzopardi alleged that the money ended up being allegedly pocketed by the car hire company rather than LESA.
He claims thousands of unsuspecting tourists were allegedly ripped off this way.
Sources 'too scared' to meet Azzopardi in public view
His court application states that the allegations are based on the testimony of various people, including sources within LESA and the Labour Party, who approached him with information about the claims from October 2023 onwards.
Sources from car hire firms are also willing to testify on oath, he has claimed.
LESA’s Camilleri, Azzopardi claims, offered his services to people in Paola’s square, telling them he could have their fines and penalty points “forgiven” [ħalli naħfirhomlhom].
Only a magisterial inquiry could delve into this racket, ordering investigations into LESA servers, argued Azzopardi.
He wants Flores and Camilleri to face charges of criminal conspiracy, trading in influence, document fraud, making gains through fraudulent means, computer misuse, money laundering, bribery of public officials and embezzlement.
Three LESA officials 'paid for nothing'
Azzopardi claims that Prime Minister Robert Abela and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri are both aware of the racket but have done nothing to stop it.
He furthermore alleges that Camilleri’s niece was engaged as a summer worker at LESA but instead spent the summer at her uncle’s ministry in Valletta, with Flores’ approval.
Two other full-time LESA officials have not clocked in for months, sources told Azzopardi.
They only turned up once a month with their timesheets to claim wages, with inside sources wondering why they were getting paid at all.
LESA and its CEO deny allegations
Flores, LESA's CEO, said both he and the agency he leads "categorically deny" the allegations.
He said penalty points were issued following "various checks" and that the agency requested police reports when faced with any documents it suspects are tampered.
Flores said the agency had taken legal action against various companies and entities that failed to pay fines on time.
"LESA is willing to fully collaborate with any investigation," Flores added.
Allegations against me ‘baseless’ - Byron Camilleri
Robert Abela and Byron Camilleri also denied Azzopardi's claims, with both politicians issuing separate statements to distance themselves from them.
Abela accused Azzopardi of abusing of the legal system as a way of making false allegations "in the hope of some mud sticking".
Camilleri, whose ministry is politically responsible for LESA, said he welcomed an investigation into Azzopardi’s claims, which he said were "baseless".
“This coordinated and desperate attack against me continued today with totally baseless and unfounded allegations,” he said in a terse Facebook post.
“These are aimed at tarnishing my reputation and attacking my integrity. Those who know me know how I've always acted and so I look forward to these allegations being investigated.”
Rentals association reacts
On Friday afternoon, the Malta Vehicle Rental and Lease Association deplored the alleged practices which it said shed a bad light on those who have always operated in the industry professionally.
"The MVRLA has always encouraged best practices with its members and has pursued various reforms to instil improved operating standards under the Operators License.
"One of these reforms related specifically to how traffic contraventions and points are processed, as it is currently a very cumbersome process which holds the individual - under whose name the vehicle is registered - accountable and at times criminally responsible", it said in a statement.
The association added it held various discussions with LESA, TM and the Transport Ministry pushing for the implementation of reforms that would ensure service providers operate within a regulated market in line with an agreed legal framework.