€52m freezing order dropped after Christian Borg’s secret tax deal

A massive €52 million freezing order imposed on Christian Borg and his network of companies has been quietly revoked following a controversial out-of-court settlement reached with Malta’s tax authorities on the back of a new law introduced by Robert Abela last year.

In the latest twist concerning one of the Prime Minister’s former clients and business partners, a revocation order was issued this week, allowing Borg to regain full control over tens of millions in frozen bank accounts, properties, and hundreds of vehicles linked to his business empire.

The latest development arrives following the dropping of criminal charges against him and his companies over claims of tax fraud and money laundering.

The freezing order, issued in 2024, targeted virtually all assets belonging to the 32-year-old Borg, his partner Monique Mizzi and several companies connected to the businessman, including No Deposit Cars, Zing Rental, Princess Construction, Princess Holdings and Princess Operations.

In August 2025, the Criminal Court had already reduced the original blanket freeze to a still staggering €52 million, a figure prosecutors considered linked to the alleged proceeds of crime.

The revised order covered extensive property holdings across Malta, including villas, penthouses, apartments and garages in St Julian’s, Swieqi, Manikata, Mosta, Valletta, Marsascala and St Paul’s Bay. Hundreds of rental vehicles operating under the Sicily By Car and No Deposit Cars brands were also included.

Now, following Borg’s settlement with the Commissioner for Tax and Customs under the controversial financial crime settlement regime introduced by Robert Abela’s government, that entire freezing order has been lifted.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana ruled earlier this month that the criminal action against Borg and several of his companies had become “extinct” after a settlement agreement was accepted by the tax authorities. As part of the same ruling, the court has now revoked the freezing orders imposed on Borg and his companies.

No details of Borg’s settlement were disclosed in court.

The public still does not know how much Borg paid to make the criminal case disappear, what taxes were recovered, or how authorities justified dropping proceedings involving alleged fraud running into millions.

The only disclosed figure so far concerns co-accused Monique Mizzi, his partner, who agreed to pay an administrative penalty of €1 million.

Borg and his companies were accused of evading income tax and VAT, filing false tax declarations, defrauding the government and laundering the proceeds of crime. Investigators had alleged that Borg used invoices totalling hundreds of thousands of euros to fraudulently claim VAT refunds through his companies.

The case was originally presented by police and prosecutors as one of the country’s major financial crime investigations.

At Borg’s arraignment in 2024, prosecutors insisted that millions had allegedly been defrauded from the VAT department and requested the freezing of all assets due to the seriousness of the money laundering allegations.

The dramatic collapse of the case is expected to intensify suspicions about the real intent of a legal mechanism introduced last year through Bill 142, which allows individuals accused of financial crimes to negotiate administrative settlements with tax authorities and avoid criminal prosecution altogether.

The arrangement is particularly sensitive politically because Borg has long been linked to Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Before becoming prime minister, Abela acted as Borg’s legal adviser and also entered into a property deal with him, a relationship that later raised ethical concerns because Borg was also his client.

Borg had publicly described Abela as a friend during the Labour leadership campaign that brought him to power.

Despite the lifting of the freezing order and the collapse of the tax fraud case, Borg still faces separate criminal proceedings connected to the 2022 kidnapping case in which he and several associates were accused of abducting and violently threatening a man. Borg denies all claims.