Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1537233
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JULY 2025 FEATURE built an empire on unchecked illegalities used as a parking area. At the time, WT Global was given a five-day period to provide an alterna- tive site which is covered by the nec- essary permits, and that failure to do so would result in the suspension of the company's operating licence. The letter was sent a few days before TM's new regulations for fleet owners with more than five vehicles were intro- duced. The regulations stipulated that Y-plate operators had to have Public Service Garages (PSGs). It is not clear whether an alternative address was provided to TM following the September 2023 warning, howev- er, a WT Global employee who works in administration testified that the site was removed from the company's LPTS licence in January 2025. The employee further explained that the Binġemma site was removed from the LPTS "because Transport Malta had told us (WT Global) that the land is not according to law and we need to provide an alternative." Amazingly, the site was removed from the LPTS just three days before TM sent the company its letter of in- tention to revoke the licence, and 13 months after WT Global was told that the site was not fit for its stated pur- pose. The same employee testified that the company was obliged to show TM an architect's declaration for each garag- ing facility yearly. Tens of thousands in daily sales Documents submitted by WT Glob- al to show the losses they suffered be- tween 21 January and 3 February this year as a result of the licence suspen- sion (before the court lifted the sus- pension pending the outcome of the case) offer a closer look at how lucra- tive its cab operations have become. The documents indicate that the company suffered an operating loss of €43,000 every day. But the documents also give a wider picture, encompassing the revenues received from ride-hailing platforms Bolt and Uber between October 2024 and January 2025. WT Global's sales, show that in Oc- tober, the company's fleet made just over €1.3 million in sales—an average of around €42,000 every day in that month just from rides made through Bolt's platform. The company made an additional €88,000 in sales in October 2024 from rides ordered through Uber. The following month, WT Glob- al made €1.1 million in sales through both platforms, and another €1.45 mil- lion in December 2024. Unpaid VAT, fines and 500% revenue growth WT Global's irregularities aren't re- stricted to its garaging facilities. In February this year, MaltaToday report- ed that the company owed a significant amount of money in unpaid VAT, with sources saying that the figure stood at over €1 million. This followed an investigation that evaluated the size of WT Global's fleet, as well as information obtained from ride-hailing platforms, which provide a clear picture of the operator's earnings. The company also owed TM some €400,000 in unpaid fines. When asked about the company's fines during a cross-examination by TM's legal rep- resentative, a company employee con- firmed that WT Global had received 350 fines for on-street parking, with all of these dating back to 2021. She told the court that until March of this year, the company was still receiv- ing fines due to what she described as a backlog at TM. Throughout the years, while fines and unpaid VAT piled up, WT Global's ac- counts show a company whose revenue exploded. A 2024 deep dive into the company's accounts by MaltaToday revealed that between 2019 and 2020, the company grew its revenue by 493.9%. The com- pany's revenue jumped by 98% between 2021 and 2022. The accounts also showed that WT Global's revenue grew from just under €15,000 in 2018 before entering the ride-hailing business to €8.9 million in 2022. Meanwhile, the company's founder and director, Walid Ouhida saw a big increase in his current ac- count. While his current account con- tained €196,788 in 2021, the number shot up to €2.7 million the following year. The current account is "unsecured, interest free and has no fixed repay- ment date", indicating what is ulti- mately a very generous, interest-free loan to Walid. This loan is separate to the dividend paid out to the immediate parent company, JWJ Investments, of which Walid is the sole shareholder. In 2022, WT Global issued a dividend of €600,000. No replies from WT Global MaltaToday reached out to the com- pany for a comment on this story but received no replies by the time of pub- lication. The site (marked in red box) was listed as one of WT Global's garaging facilities The address WT Global marked as a garaging facility pointed to a field that is only accessible through a footpath