Sixteen foreigners kicked out of the La Valette Resort last November are waiting to discover whether the hotel is guilty of breach of contract in a criminal case.

We feel like we have been used to protect Malta’s reputation.

The Malta Tourism Authority took court action against the Paceville property last month after taking legal advice.

A judgment was expected on Friday but the case was put off.

La Valette Resort evicted the guests despite them paying more than €16,000 in combined rent to malta-rooms.com, an agency run by a German woman.

The Sunday Times reported on November 18 that they were evicted because of a dispute between La Valette Resort and malta-rooms.com boss Jasmin Voss.

Those evicted were students and interns who had paid their rent and deposits to malta-rooms.com.

They were housed in shared apartments at the resort.

According to the guests who spoke to The Sunday Times, the management suddenly demanded that they pay rent and deposits directly to the hotel or vacate the premises.

Believing they had paid their dues, they all refused and were evicted within days.

After taking legal advice, the MTA deemed La Valette Resort to be ultimately responsible. It took court action against the resort in terms of the Travel and Tourism Services Act for breach of contract.

Four Dutch interns gave evidence in court on January 17.

An MTA spokesman said that if the case went against the resort, the evictees could open their own civil cases in Malta to recover their lost money.

The MTA could also assist them in filing complaints at the European Consumer Centre in Malta, which could be followed up in other EU countries. Some have already done this.

But Hüseyin Ak, 22, one of the Dutch interns who testified in court last week, said he felt “misled” and “used” by the MTA.

According to Mr Ak, when a group of the evictees met MTA officials in December, they were told the watchdog could recover their money.

He said that those who gave evidence had to make a lot of sacrifices from their internships to attend meetings with MTA officials and court sittings, including one in December when the La Valette management did not show up.

“If I had known we would not get our money back at the end of it I would not have bothered,” he said.

Mr Ak claimed he and the three other victims who testified were not informed the case would not result in their money being returned until after they appeared in court last week.

“They just told us, ‘thanks for helping us’, but what about us? Our only goal was to get our money back. We feel like we have been used to protect Malta’s reputation.”

Mr Ak and the three other victims who testified are now back in The Netherlands mulling over their options.

Having lost €300 from being evicted, Mr Ak suspects launching a civil case might not be worth the expense. “Others have lost €1,500 to €1,700,” he pointed out.

Irish Erasmus student Rebekah Mooney, who is still in Malta, said her family had paid about €1,000 to malta-rooms.com before she was kicked out.

“We’ve actually lost more than that because we then had to pay agency fees and upfront rent for a new place, plus the cost of staying in another hotel for a few days,” she said.

“It just seems so dodgy. We still don’t know who has our money.”

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