A representative of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority defended the issuing of a warning against Fantasy Tours, which the company has blamed for its eventual demise.

Lawyer Irene Bonello, who provides legal assistance to the MCCAA’s Office for Consumer Affairs, was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Fantasy Tours director Karl Azzopardi, who is accused of misappropriating his clients’ funds. The company had accepted payments from clients as late as 6 August, 2013, the day before it informed them via SMS that it was closing shop.

In February 2014, Golden Travel Club Ltd – the operators of Fantasy Tours – was officially declared bankrupt after it was deemed to be beyond recovery.

In a prior sitting, the tour operator’s accounts clerk had insisted that the MCCAA’s decision to issue a warning against the company on 26 October 2012, was the final nail in the coffin.

But in her testimony, Dr Bonello stressed that the authority had every right to issue a warning, on the strength of amendments to the Consumer Affairs Act.

She stressed that the warning against Fantasy Tours was not the first to be issued and neither was it the last, and that it was based on 150 complaints against the company. She noted that subsequently, the authority issued similar warnings against traders on the strength of just one complaint.

The authority made an attempt to contact the company by mail before issuing the warning, but the letter was refused, she said, leaving it no option but to proceed.

Dr Bonello said that a meeting with the company took place after the warning was issued, to ensure that the cases do not remain pending, and she said that the warning was followed by the gradual settling of cases.

The pending payments were only settled by mid-July 2013, shortly before the company’s dissolution, but fresh complaints were surfacing in the meantime.

A fresh wave of complaints was received by the authority after the company informed its clients that it was closing shop.

In reply to a question by prosecuting inspector Ian Abdilla, Dr Bonello confirmed that the company had made a request for the authority to withdraw the warning and issue a counter-statement.

But she said that as the authority was considering what to do, things happened quickly and the company ended up filing for bankruptcy before anything was done.

Dr Bonello insisted that the authority gave Fantasy Tours every chance to remedy the situation, pointing out that the company was aware of the complaints since 2008 and that the authority sought mediation in each case.

In his own testimony, Britannia Tours director Noel Farrugia confirmed that his company was interested in expanding by acquiring other tour operators, and that he had approached Mr Azzopardi to discuss the possible acquisition of Fantasy Tours in the summer of 2012. But discussions did not go beyond an early stage.

Another witness, Joseph Cauchi, said that KDM Travel were similarly considering acquiring Fantasy Tours. But once more, discussions did not go in debt, with Mr Cauchi stating the consumer warning saw KDM hold back.

Some 200 Fantasy Tours clients are set to testify in the case, which continues on 14 May.

Lawyer Kris Borg appeared for Mr Azzopardi, while lawyer Franco Debono appeared as parte civile.