Monique Mizzi, 27, pays €1 million and walks free from tax fraud case

Monique Mizzi, the 27-year-old partner and business associate of criminally-charged car dealer Christian Borg, has had the freezing order against her and her company lifted following a €1 million administrative penalty agreed with the tax authorities.

A new notice published in the Government Gazette shows that Magistrate Leonard Caruana, through a decree issued on 3 August, ordered the complete cancellation and revocation of the seizing and freezing order against Mizzi and Lion Funding Limited.

The order had originally been imposed in August 2024 as part of criminal proceedings involving Borg, Mizzi and a network of companies linked to the car dealer.

The latest development follows a separate agreement reached by Mizzi with the tax authorities earlier this year.

The court was informed that Mizzi, personally and on behalf of Lion Funding, had agreed to pay a €1 million administrative penalty.

The full terms of the agreement have never been made public.

Lion Funding, incorporated in February 2022 and registered at Mizzi’s residential address in Paola, had millions of euros in assets caught by the freezing regime.

Following an earlier variation of the original freezing order, some €7.35 million worth of vehicles belonging to Lion Funding had remained frozen. Two APS Bank accounts belonging to Mizzi personally had also remained subject to the order.

The latest decree now removes the freezing measures against both Mizzi and Lion Funding.

The development follows a similar outcome for Christian Borg, who earlier this year had a €52 million freezing order lifted after reaching a secret settlement with Malta’s tax authorities.

As revealed by The Shift last May, Borg and his companies had faced criminal proceedings over allegations including income tax and VAT evasion, false declarations, fraud against the government and money laundering.

Following Borg’s settlement, Magistrate Caruana declared the criminal action against him and the companies covered by the agreement extinct and revoked their freezing orders.

The proceedings involving Mizzi and Lion Funding were dealt with separately.

A representative of the Tax Commissioner subsequently informed the court that an agreement had also been reached with Mizzi, both personally and on behalf of Lion Funding, involving a €1 million administrative penalty.

Mizzi had been charged alongside Borg with money laundering and criminal conspiracy and had originally pleaded not guilty.

The settlements were made possible through a controversial mechanism introduced by the Labour government, allowing certain financial crime proceedings to be terminated after defendants reach agreements with the tax authorities and settle amounts due together with administrative penalties.

Despite the scale of the original proceedings and freezing orders, the complete financial terms of the agreements reached with Borg and Mizzi remain secret, including the amounts of tax ultimately recovered by the State.

Borg, a former client and publicly declared friend of Prime Minister Robert Abela, operates a substantial car rental and vehicle sales business through a network of companies, including No Deposit Cars and Zing Rental.

The end of the tax-related proceedings does not, however, mean that Borg is free of other serious court cases.

Borg is still facing separate criminal proceedings over the alleged abduction of a man in Rabat in January 2022. Borg and other men were charged over accusations that the victim was forced into a vehicle, assaulted and threatened.

Borg has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.