Zenith Call Centre Employees Not Paid Since February To Start Receiving Wages In Coming Days, Company Says
Past and present employees at the Zenith Connect call centre will start receiving past wages due to them in the coming days, the company has said, as more of the company’s workers have expressed their frustration at the situation.
Zenith Connect is a part of the Zenith Group, which is owned by Matthew Pace and Lorraine Falzon, both of whom have been charged with corruption and money laundering involving former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri among others.
Last month, an employee who was still working at the company described to Lovin Malta the difficulties they were experiencing as a result of not being paid
They said that though they had been receiving payslips, no funds had entered their account, leaving many employees unable to meet their financial commitments. Since then, more employees have come forward and spoken of similar difficulties.
The company’s HR manager Abbey Saliba, told Lovin Malta that the reason employees hadn’t been paid was a problem on the part of Bank of Valletta, which wasn’t allowing the payments to go through.
This, combined with the fact that the company had been paid money owed to it, meant that employees’ wages couldn’t be paid, Saliba said, adding however that the issues had now been resolved. Employees would start receiving their wages in the coming days, she added.
Despite the fact that employees haven’t been paid since February, the company was last month revealed to have applied for a government tender.
Sources said that while Zenith Connect has not been strictly speaking targeted by sanctions by the authorities, its bid for the tender was “inappropriate” given the charges against Pace and Falzon.
Out of the roughly 15 employees who worked at the call centre Lovin Malta understands that at present, only two are still working there, on a part-time basis.
“We’ve left high and dry with no explanation whatsoever,” one former employee said.
They said that as far as they were aware, the situation was affecting everyone who worked at the call centre, including management staff.
“Up until the last time we all spoke, about two weeks ago, nobody had been paid. It’s been especially difficult for those who were not able to find a job immediately after having to leave. Some people have been unable to pay their loans and even their rent,” they said.
Matthew Pace and Lorraine Falzon, the company’s two directors, were charged in court in March, accused of having facilitated a host of money-laundering activities on the part of Schembri and others.
Pace, was in fact described as a professional money launderer by an expert appointed by the inquiring magistrate that investigated the claims which ultimately led to Pace and Falzon’s arrest.
Both Pace and Falzon have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.
In March, the Malta Financial Services Authority suspended the operations of Zenith Finance Limited and Zenith (Tied Insurance Intermediary), with a court-appointed accountant later being appointed to administer the company.
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