Prime Minister Robert Abela was the legal consultant of Tal-Qasab car dealership in Qormi, one of the companies allegedly at the centre of a racket involving the alteration of mileage on cars imported from Japan, his spokesperson has confirmed.
An OPM spokesman told Malta Today that Abela had acted as a lawyer to the Spiteri family.
Tal-Qasab is managed by siblings Alex and Chris Spiteri.
A photograph making the rounds on social media shows Abela with Alex Spiteri at Castille.
The photo was uploaded on Facebook last September 2021 by Spiteri himself.
The spokesperson told MaltaToday that Abela had no commercial or personal dealings with Alex Spiteri or his company but had represented the family in court.
“Dr Abela had, in the past, acted as a lawyer to the Spiteri family in civil proceedings before the Courts of Justice,”
The police are investigating two car dealers – Rokku Auto Dealer of Għaxaq and Tal-Qasab of Qormi – allegedly involved in the racket to tamper with the mileage of second-hand Japanese cars. Rokku Autodealer is operated by Roderick Vella.
Both dealerships were suspended by a sectoral lobby group, the Used Vehicle Importers Association, on Sunday after Malta Today broke reports of the alleged scam.
The suspected scam impacts car sales dating back to 2019 and allegedly saw dealerships register cars imported from Japan with lower mileage counts than they had actually accumulated.
Transport Malta has received at least 300 reports of suspicious mileage counts related to the scam.
On Wednesday the government said 45 people had complained to the consumer watchdog about the case so far.
UVIA general secretary Albert Fenech issued a statement on Sunday saying that two car dealerships have been suspended in relation to the suspected scam. The statement did not name the dealers responsible.
After the scam was revealed, Times of Malta published a guide to help people verify the true mileage of their imported cars.
Over the past days, a significant number of frustrated and angry customers confirmed they were sold a car purporting to have a mileage of around 20,000 kilometres when, in fact, it had much more on the clock.
The most fortunate victims, mostly owners of Mazda and Toyota cars, noticed an approximate 20,000-kilometre difference. The worst-affected realised their mileage gauge was off by as many as 100,000 kilometres.
Most of the car owners noticed the fake mileage was usually a removal or reduction of the first digit on the real mileage.
So, for example, 93,105 kilometres was reduced to 23,105 and, in one case, 120,000 kilometres was brought down to a mere 20,000.
The OPM spokesperson denounces all forms of illegal activity without entering into the merits of the mileage racket.
Meanwhile, Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba, who also appears in several photos with the Spiteri brothers, including one where he is dining with them, told MaltaToday that he never had “any professional, commercial or personal relationship” with them.
Alex Spiteri (right) with Justice Minister Jonathan Attard (left) and Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba (centre). Photo: Facebook