Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1475578
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 10 NEWS LUKE VELLA ALLEGED kidnapper Christian Borg has lost an appeal against Transport Malta over the sus- pension of the public service garage licence for his Goldcar franchise. Borg, who holds various businesses in car-hire and construction, was in January 2022 arrested with five of his associates, charged with the abduction and assault of the man, threatening to have his fingers cut off and his sister raped. All six are currently out on bail. On 17 January 2019, Trans- port Malta suspended the li- cense for Princess Garage, owned by Borg, with imme- diate effect, after for years the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority and other authorities received "numerous, repeated and ex- tremely serious complaints of malpractice" from clients who hired a car from Goldcar. TM had told Borg the clients had "felt aggrieved, abused, swin- dled or cheated by your car hire agency". Under this permit, Princess Garage used to lease cars un- der the international franchis- es "Goldcar" and "Rhodium", as part of a Master Franchise Agreement with Goldcar Mas- ter SL of Spain. It had a licence to operate a fleet of 1,145 vehi- cles. In February 2019, Borg ap- pealed the decision, arguing that the decision was "un- founded" and that it had been taken without prior notice. He also stated that the allegations were "vague" and that no "mis- conduct or negligence" were ever proven. The Administra- tive Review Tribunal rejected the appeal. Transport Malta said that action was taken, as although commitments were made by the company to end certain "malpractices", it still "failed completely from honouring the undertaking to operate in a proper, professional and cor- rect manner". The Consumer Affairs Direc- torate confirmed that it had no- tified Borg about various short- comings and had explained to him that the complaints were giving Malta a "bad name". It also stated that only a few com- plaints had been resolved. It also emerged that way back in 2016 Transport Malta had already sent a suspension no- tice to Borg, however for some reason this was never followed through, as complaints contin- ued to be filed. "The claimant [Christian Borg] was well aware that there were several problems in his operation, both because the MCCAA was drawing his at- tention, and also because his representatives were attend- ing meetings with officials of the respondent Authority and his legal counsel," the tribunal noted. It also said that it did not be- lieve Borg when saying that he was not aware about the meet- ings held. "While the claimant testified that he did not know about these meetings this Tribunal is not convinced that he was telling the truth. While it is possible that the claimant was not present at these meetings, he certainly knew about the various complaints that were coming to the Authorities over a period of time and he contin- ued not to take any serious ac- tion in order to be addressed." It also said that the MCCAA had issued an Investigation Or- der against Borg in September 2018. "In the opinion of the Tribunal, the claimant was well aware that the situation was complicated and continued to persist in his behavior without giving satisfactory remedies for the justified complaints that were being made […] There- fore this Tribunal finds that this appeal is not justified." It said that the complaints were "repetitive" and "per- sisted for a number of years". "This means that the claim- ant had no interest in rectify- ing his shortcomings, in order to reduce the complaints. In comparison to the high num- ber of complaints, only a few were seriously addressed by the claimant." The Tribunal also said that li- cence suspension was justified, in order to avoid "irreparable damages" to Malta's reputa- tion. Borg keeps securing public tenders Despite Transport Malta sus- pending the licence for Borg's former Goldcar franchise, last April it awarded a 41-vehicle tender to his company, Princess Operations, valued at around €250,000. Princess Operations Ltd had been registered by Christian Borg on 22 May 2018. Amidst the turmoil surrounding Borg in relation to the abduction, Borg resigned from director of the company, ceding it to former Labour Party photographer Jo- seph Camenzuli. In January, Princess Opera- tions had also won a 24-car ten- der with the Local Enforcement System Agency (LESA). The same company also is cur- rently poised to securing a €2.5 million contract with the Court Services Agency, for the rental of 48 plug-in hybrid cars, to be used by members of the judici- ary and their families. The bid is currently being vetted. Borg has close ties to the La- bour Party, with Prime Minis- ter Robert Abela serving as one of Borg's legal advisors in the past, even appearing on a prop- erty assignment of rights in a deal that has been criticised by the Opposition. Through another one of his companies, called Princess Holdings, Borg also holds a franchise agreement with Ital- ian car hire company, Sicily By Car. Borg also owns a car hire showroom, No Deposit Cars Malta in Qormi and was until recently operating another on in Burmarrad, Easy Finance Motor House. A considerable number customers of both showrooms had approached MaltaToday, after their bank accounts were frozen by garnishee orders, after stopping repayments for what they claim were damaged cars. In the past he was also behind the Green Motion car hire fran- chise in Malta, but the interna- tional franchise later terminated the contract, saying that the at- titude and treatment of the cus- tomers, became "intolerable". lvella@mediatoday.com.mt Transport Malta suspended the garage licence in 2019, after for years and excessive number of complaints were filed by Goldcar clients Alleged kidnapper loses appeal over suspension of Goldcar licence On 17 January 2019, Transport Malta suspended the license for Christian Borg's Princess Garage after for years the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority received "numerous, repeated and extremely serious complaints of malpractice" from clients who hired a car from Goldcar