The uncovering of a car mileage tampering racket by some car dealers was one of the stories which grabbed attention the most over the course of the summer.

It was in June that MaltaToday reported how two car dealers sold imported cars from Japan after allegedly tampering with their mileage gauges.

The minister responsible for consumer affairs Julia Farrugia Portelli had then appealed for suspected victims to contact the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority and file a complaint.

The number of complaints stands at 83.

Farrugia Portelli told The Malta Independent that over 80% of these cases have been ‘resolved’ with people affected getting compensation.

“We helped more than 80% of all cases that have come forward to receive adequate compensation. I am also aware that there is a last attempt ongoing for the remaining percentage to be resolved,” she said.

Many times, the form of compensation is either cash or else a car equivalent in value to the car consumers should have been given to start with, she said.

Additionally, she said that up until now none of these filed complaints have been taken to tribunal for resolution.

While it is good and important that all those people affected by this scandal receive adequate compensation from the car dealers involved in this scandal – who are Rokku and Tal-Qasab – at the same time one cannot truly describe such a scandal as resolved on the basis that all the victims have been compensated.

This was a scandal which certainly merits a police investigation – which is apparently ongoing – and therefore it can only be described as being truly resolved once anybody who may have committed any wrongdoing is charged in court.

If there was no wrongdoing according to the police, they have a duty to – given the scale of the matter at hand – call a press conference and explain why this would have turned out to be the case, and explain what investigations they conducted.

This is not so that the police can be run through the wringer by the media, but because the public has a right to know what type of work the police has conducted and, more so, to be reassured that there has been no impunity in how the matter has been handled.

As things stand, both auto dealers continue to operate as if its business as usual and – beyond both of them being instructed by their lawyer Franco Debono to deny all allegations when questioned by the media – anybody purchasing cars from them has no assurance as to whether these businesses are in the clear.

While those doubts remain, the matter cannot be considered as resolved.