The victim of a gang abduction which allegedly took place at Rabat in broad daylight has denied stealing from his former boss and the alleged gang leader in the kidnap. 

Back on the witness stand, Carlos Schembri recounted the events of that January afternoon in the presence of Luke John Milton, the sixth suspected kidnapper whose compilation of evidence kicked off on Friday.

Milton, 25, had been arraigned separately days after the other five suspects as he was being treated in hospital for some medical condition. He is pleading not guilty to the charges.

One month ago, the alleged victim testified against Christian Borg, 28, owner of No Deposit Cars Malta, Thorne Mangion, 27, Tyson Grech, 26, Burton Azzopardi, 20 and Jeremy Borg, 20, who are also pleading not guilty to their involvement in the alleged abduction.

All men have since been granted bail. 

On Friday, the slight-framed, soft-spoken youth again recounted how he was forcefully taken away as he sat inside a Mercedes outside his panel beater’s garage at Triq it-Tagħbija, Rabat. 

His account ran along much the same lines as it had a month ago, from the moment that Jeremy Borg suddenly appeared outside his car, ordering him to “get out” and how the rest of the gang turned up in a white Peugeot van, punching him in the face as he tried to resist being taken away.

All the way to Corradino, where Schembri was transferred to another van, his abductors interrogated him about his suspected involvement in the theft of a van from Borg’s car company. 

And each time he denied the allegations, he was punched, kicked and threatened all the way to Fgura, until he finally managed to escape when the van made a stop for diesel at a service station. 

Ordeal not first of its kind

That ordeal was not the first of its kind, testified Schembri, explaining how some four years ago he had been taken away forcefully from a car park by Chris, Tyson and a foreigner who worked at the car company at the time. 

That time he was taken to a yard at Qrendi where he was interrogated for hours and accused of having been involved in the theft of a van belonging to his boss’s company. 

All his protestations proved futile as the men held him down on a chair, physically restraining him and forcing him to sign bills of exchange for the purchase of a new van from a local car importer. 

Borg allegedly forced Schembri to sign those papers, threatening that unless he did so he would not get back home safely to his family.“That time it started at around 4pm and I was there until late evening,” said Schembri.

He had been working as a sprayer with Chris Borg at the time of that first episode and continued to do so while his boss deducted €300 from his monthly wages to cover the payments due on those bills of exchange.

Eventually, that first van which his employer had accused him of stealing was found.

“Chris told me that it had been found. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Garnishee order for some €33,000

But meanwhile, he was stuck with a garnishee order for some €33,000 on account of the bills of exchange he had been made to sign, the alleged victim said.

“Your first trouble with No Deposit was over some theft from the bonded stores of the company. Some car parts,” said defence lawyer Stefano Filletti. “Is that what they asked you about that time in Qrendi?”

“No, there was no such talk. In fact, afterwards, I returned to work for him.”

“Why did you go back to work with him?” Filletti continued.

“He’s the only one who pays €9 per hour. And you can check for yourself that there was never any report about me for theft,” Schembri replied.

Moving on to January’s alleged abduction, Filletti piled on the pressure.

“They faced you with the allegation that you had stolen a van. And that day you told them where the van was, that you had cut it up and sold parts for €1,000. You also supplied the name of the buyer.”

“No, that’s not true. Under those circumstances, if I said otherwise they would beat me.” 

Recently, No Deposit Cars received a fine from LESA in respect of a Mercedes model bearing number plates which had been reported stolen by the company.

That Mercedes was allegedly driven by Schembri. “How do you explain that,” asked Filletti.

Faced with that question, the witness went into a lengthy explanation as to how he had purchased a Mercedes from No Deposit Cars, bearing UK number plates.

That model had been taken back by the company but he had retained the number plates, said Schembri. 

His reply was promptly shot down by Filletti who pointed out that the witness was referring to an older model.

The number plates reported stolen were now fixed onto another model that was currently being used by the witness and it was the same one booked by LESA just weeks ago, Filletti pressed on, pouring cold water on the explanation offered by the alleged victim.

Meanwhile, earlier on in Friday's hearing, the defence requested the court access to the testimony Schembri had given in the other related case, so as to be able to control his version of events.

The court, presided over by magistrate Monica Vella, is to decree on that request once the prosecution files its reply.