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MALTATODAY 20 February 2022

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12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 FEBRUARY 2022 NEWS Abduction gang: companies change directors yet again Former PL photographer Joseph Camenzuli assumes directorship of Christian Borg's company as criminal charges risk blacklisting LUKE VELLA COMPANIES belonging to members of the so-called ab- duction gang that are now facing charges in court, have changed directors in a bid to avert a fallout from their black- listing on lucrative public con- tracts. Christian Borg, the main shareholder and director of the Princess group of companies, accused of direct involvement in the abduction and assault of a man, conceded the directorship of his company Princess Oper- ations to Joseph Camenzuli, a one-time photographer for the Labour Party and prime minis- ter Joseph Muscat. Six men, Christian Borg, Ty- son Grech, Luke John Milton, Thorne Mangion, Burton Az- zopardi and Jeremy Borg were arrested in January and charged with the abduction and assauly of the man, threatening to have his fingers cut off and his sister rape. All six are currently on bail. Borg owns several compa- nies including No Deposit Cars Malta Ltd, Zing Cabs Ltd, Zing Rental Ltd, Princess Holdings Ltd, Princess Operations Ltd and Princess Construction Ltd. In the past he was behind the car hire franchises Green Mo- tion and Gold Car Malta. Through Princess Holdings he is now operating the Sicily By Car franchise. Borg also owns two car-hire showrooms, No Deposit Cars Malta in Qormi, and Easy Fi- nance Motor House in Burmar- rad. And at 28, Borg can be said to be extremely wealthy, owning several luxury cars and a num- ber of exotic animals, including lions, a puma, a panther and a crocodile, apart from running a business which in five years amassed €22 million in accu- mulated losses and backed en- tirely by shareholder loans. A considerable number cus- tomers of No Deposit Cars and Easy Finance Motor House ap- proached MaltaToday over the past, saying they had had their bank accounts frozen by gar- nishee orders after stopping repayments for what they claim are damaged cars. Additionally, Borg's links to the Labour Party have gained more prominence: before be- coming prime minister, Rob- ert Abela served as one of the Borg's legal advisors, even ap- pearing on a property assign- ment of rights in a deal that has been criticised by the Opposi- tion. Abela denied any wrong doing and said he had declared his income from the deal. Borg was not only close to the current Prime Minister but also to other Labour Party fig- ures, most prominently Joseph Camenzuli, the Labour Par- ty photographer who shares a passion for exotic animals with Borg. But the closeness of the two was evident in court, when Camenzuli offered to act as a third-party guarantee for Borg in case of bail, saying he knew him for five years and could vouch for him. Camenzuli has now taken over the directorship of No Deposit Cars Limited and Princess Op- erations from Borg, ever since the Rabat abduction story broke out. A series of tenders won by Borg's companies Sources have told MaltaToday that Borg's companies have held or are holding a number of con- tracts with public entities, hav- ing won a number of tenders to lease cars to Police, Transport Malta and LESA. Princess Holdings Limited won a €12,000 direct order in 2018, for the provision of self- drive cars to the Ministry for Transport. In 2020, the same company also won four di- rect orders from the Rabat lo- cal council for the leasing of a Peugeot vehicle, amounting to Joe Camenzuli (right), seen with Christian Borg (centre) at the Goldcar offices, with Tyson Grech to the left

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