A court heard this morning how Fantasy Tours continued to slump after the Consumer Department issued a warning over the company.

Johann Vella, who worked as an accounts clerk at the travel company that went bust said the warning came at a time when the company and its management was going against all odds to try save it from bankruptcy.

Although the company had serious financial problems, it continued to operate with the hope of a turnaround, he said.

He was testifying in the compilation of evidence against company director Karl Azzopardi, 44, from Santa Maria Estate in Mellieha, who is pleading not guilty to defrauding several Fantasy Tours clients and misappropriating their funds.

Mr Vella said that although the company already had financial difficulties when he joined, these worsened when the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority issued a warning on Fantasy Tours, which also operated under the company name Golden Travel Club Limited.

He said Mr Azzopardi sent many emails to the department to withdraw the warning but this never materialised. At the time when the warning was issued, the company had no pending claims with the department.

Mr Vella spoke about the "banal" cases which were filed against the company such as from a client who opened a case and requested a full refund because she saw a rat passing over a wall from her hotel window.

He said the main cause of the financial difficulties was the tour to Corfu which was operating at a loss because there was not enough demand for the tour and when the company had booked entire flights. The company was not managing to break even on this tour, he said.

When asked, he said the staff continued to accept bookings until the every end because they were not aware of what was going to happen in the future or that a decision had been taken to wind up the firm.

The case continues in January.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla is prosecuting. Lawyer Kris Borg is defending Mr Azzopardi while lawyers Franco Debono and Angie Muscat appeared parte civile for the former clients who had their paid-up tours cancelled.
The police received a total of 272 reports on this case - 268 of them filed at police stations and four at the police depot. The clients claims totalled €406,985.81.