No Deposit customers demand tax evasion and fraud investigation targeting Christian Borg

26 No Deposit Cars customers request rescission of fraudulent hire purchase contracts, demand police treat car hire scam companies as an organised crime group

A group of 26 customers of No Deposit Cars have asked a court to rescind hire purchase contracts between them and the company, claiming to have fallen victims to fraud and criminal conspiracy amongst other crimes, inviting the police to investigate. 

The judicial protest, signed by lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta, was filed this morning against No Deposit Cars, its parent company Princess Holdings and the company’s owner Christian Borg. 

The court document outlines the customers' claims that Borg participated in a criminal conspiracy and had forced or induced them to pay over €1,000 for imaginary contraventions which the hapless customers were told they had incurred - often in just one month. Borg's fleeced customers are requesting he also be investigated and ultimately charged with having "promoted, constituted, organised or financed an organisation with a view to commit criminal offences which are punishable by imprisonment for four years or more" -  in layman's terms: participating in organised crime. 

MaltaToday revealed on Sunday that scores of customers were considering legal action against the company and its owner. 

There had been several instances where receipts for the value of 1c had been issued to customers after payments of several hundred euros, they said, pointing out that Borg and his companies were thereby also defrauding the taxman.

Christian Borg (Photo: Facebook)
Christian Borg (Photo: Facebook)

Some of the plaintiffs had been forced to make monthly payments of hundreds of euros for over three years, “for cars which they had never seen, much less driven,” the former customers claim.

"Nobody can do anything to me because I have very powerful people backing me up," the protest alleged Borg to have told one customer who complained about Borg’s refusal to hand over the car’s logbook. “If the Police stop you, tell them that the car belongs to Christian Borg and they won't do anything to you,” he allegedly said.

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The No Deposit Cars showroom in Qormi (Photo: James Bianchi/mediatoday)
The No Deposit Cars showroom in Qormi (Photo: James Bianchi/mediatoday)

Besides formally bringing the crimes to the attention of the Police Commissioner and requesting the recission of the contracts, which contain various illegal clauses, the judicial protest is also a vehicle for the alleged victims to claim compensation for the moral and pecuniary damages they suffered.

Tracking devices hidden inside the cars - “a breach of GDPR”

The complainants are also claiming to have been forced to enter into contracts which obliged them to accept that the vehicles that they had bought or rented from Borg or his companies would be fitted with a tracking device and under 24-hour surveillance.

Customers said that they had not known about the tracking devices hidden inside the vehicles which they had only found by coincidence. The lawyers described this as a “blatant breach of GDPR regulations.”

Breaches of consumer rights

Citing judgments by the European Court of Justice, the complainants’ lawyers argued that the defendants’ actions had breached “even their most basic rights,” adding that they were ready to take their case to the ECJ if necessary.

The former clients also asked for “all possible” police protection until the investigation is concluded, as they were reporting a person “who is known for his criminal and violent behaviour and who more than once told some of them that nobody, not even the police, could touch him because he enjoys the protection of a very powerful person in the country.”

READ ALSO: Unsuspecting motorists find ‘no deposit’ lure has been costly in ongoing saga