Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that the property deal he had a stake in with Christian Borg was over a small Zabbar plot.

The Times of Malta on Sunday had reported that Abela had a stake in a property deal back in 2018 which was eventually transferred to Christian Borg, a man recently charged with kidnapping. It has also been reported that Borg and his associates are being investigated by the police over suspected narcotics smuggling and money laundering. Abela was Borg's lawyer in the past.

The Times report reads: "The property deal in question involved what is known as assignment of rights (ċessjoni ta' dritijiet fuq konvenju). This is a legal mechanism that allows the proposed buyer in a promise of sale agreement on a property to pass those purchasing rights over to a third party." It also reports that it can be legitimately used if a proposed buyer finds another party willing to purchase the property instead, but quotes sources as saying that it can also be known to be used to avoid tax or conceal irregular payments.

Abela said that the report in the Sunday Times was ‘spin’, and said that it included “lies from the facts I had given.”

Abela was asked whether he conducted due diligence on the property deal, to which he said: “A notary conducts the due diligence on property deal, not the one who cedes a promise of sale.”

The assignment of rights was registered and tax was paid on it, so it is only logical that there was a profit, he said in response to another question.

Asked whether he questioned why a 25-year-old was involved and where his money was coming from, Abela said that the deal was over a small plot in Zabbar.

PN MP Jason Azzopardi had, earlier today, questioned if Abela has ever had deals with the tal-Maksar Brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, who currently stand accused of supplying the bomb used to kill journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017. Asked whether he was involved with the Tal-Maksar brothers, he said no, “It’s another lie.”