The Office for Consumer Affairs (OCA), in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) and the Police, is assessing what legal action can be taken against a company that allegedly defrauded clients out of thousands of euros, a spokesperson has told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) registered Director Michael Tolan and Company Secretary Bernadette Gauci have begun pointing fingers at each other over the company’s mismanagement, with the former telling this newsroom that Gauci was presenting herself as the ‘victim’, and the latter claiming unpaid wages in the thousands.

This came after a number of people who registered as members of Platinum International Malta Ltd, also known as ‘Escape from Malta’, approached this newsroom after they were left with unpaid hotel bills and non-existent bookings.

The same company even sent ‘falsified’ bank transfers and flight tickets, as confirmed by the hotel and flights operators, to its clients.

Platinum International offered what seems to be timeshare accommodation, whereby clients would pay a membership fee ranging from €2,000 to €3,500, which would then provide them with significantly reduced rates at hotels abroad and holiday packages. The membership covered five destinations of the client’s choosing, for each of which the client would give €500 to Platinum for the service.

A quick glance at a private members group indicates just how many people subscribed to the service, with some even giving the company a total fee of up to €5,500 (membership fee + bookings).

 

Clients left to foot hotels bills in the thousands

While it appears that the trips earlier in the year went according to plan, everything seemed to unravel at the beginning of August.

Sources explained how they had arrived at their holiday destination only to be told by hotel staff that their fee had not been paid and they would need to settle the total bill, sometimes amounting to thousands.

Attempts by clients to contact Company Secretary Bernadette Gauci went unanswered. She eventually promised that the bills would be settled but this promise failed to materialise.

While some clients were able to pay the rest of the fee, others were not so lucky, with one individual even being arrested in Germany over the issue.

Naturally becoming suspicious, the clients then began to contact the hotel operators with whom they had future bookings, only to discover that no booking had taken place, despite them having given Platinum the stipulated €500 fee.

On 25 August, clients were sent emails to inform them that “the Company cannot honour any present or future hotel bookings, due to an interruption of services from the service providers.

“If you had a week booked, please note that this has been cancelled and attached is a claim form to fill in to claim your refund from the company owner,” it read.

 

Director Michael Tolan claims he appointed Gauci as managing director in 2005; newsroom waiting for documentation

Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Tolan claimed that he had turned over the total running of the business to Gauci in the capacity as Managing Director with “a full trust demonstrated by power of attorney to operate the business in Malta including bank accounts”, with him retaining the role of an absentee owner.

“She was the sole signatory on the bank, and collected and dispersed all funds in her legal and official trusted capacity; my legal advisors are looking into her mismanagement, misappropriation of funds and embezzlement.”

According to the MFSA Registry of Companies, Tolan is listed as the company’s director and majority shareholder, while Gauci is listed as the company secretary. This newsroom has requested Tolan to provide any documentation where Gauci signed as the company’s managing director.

Saying that Gauci has presented herself in the media as a ‘victim’, Tolan told this newsroom that, once the bank account had been frozen, he had “no option but to attempt to rescue the clients by setting up a new client services centre abroad immediately, without any interference from her or her many local contacts that she was always quick to point out.

“Implementing this new customer service centre will allow all the clients to have their services gradually restored. This will ensure that, ultimately, no client will face any losses. It will be open on or before 15 September and announced on the website.”

Sources have told this newsroom that the inspector overseeing the case has spoken to the Attorney General to see what can be done with regard to Tolan, who is believed to be in Dubai.

Tolan was asked whether he had any plans to return to the island to resolve the issue, but no answer had been received by the time of going to print.

This newspaper is informed that the police have also called in for questioning people who may have falsified the aforementioned documents.

While the police are continuing their investigations, it is believed that clients have been advised by officers that there is nothing they can do and that they will have to file a civil case.

In fact, an OCA spokesperson told the newsroom that ”if conciliation by the OCA is not successful, consumers will have to take their individual cases to the Malta Arbitration Centre as stipulated in their contract.”

 

Company secretary insists she did not defraud anyone

Speaking to One News, Bernadette Gauci said she had resigned from the company and was still owed €16,000, adding that the staff had not been paid for the preceding two months. She insisted that she had not defrauded anyone and it was Tolan who had declared the disruption in services and sent the claim forms. It is as yet unclear when exactly Gauci resigned, given that she still appears as the company secretary on the MFSA registry.

Gauci also said she had filed a police report explaining that she was already able to refund those from her own personal funds and not from the company itself, but she did not have the means to cover everyone.

The veracity of her claims is so far unconfirmed.

This newsroom has also been informed that Gauci has been interrogated by the police and that she had informed them that the money would be sent to Tolan’s company in Dubai. The police are waiting for bank statements to verify these claims.

Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, lawyer and nominal shareholder of Platinum International (as shown on the MFSA registry), could not be reached for a comment, despite several attempts to do so.

 

2004 newspaper letter details previous payment issues

This is not the first time that Tolan has been in the news. A letter published by The Times of Malta in 2004 outlines the turmoil suffered by a husband and wife employed as directors of the company, only to be left without full pay and without the promised refund for a return flight to their native Australia.

“Our big fear is that anyone who purchases holiday timeshare with World Class Vacation Club may not receive the benefits of club membership as promised by the company,” the letter read.

Another letter from Tolan’s then landlord followed, detailing how the company’s director had failed to pay the monthly rent for his property, with the landlord finding other personnel from the same company occupying the apartment rather than the company director.

Chetcuti, who is mentioned as the lawyer in the letter, had told the landlord that Tolan was not legally bound to pay the fee as he had not signed the lease agreement himself.