Colombian woman describes 12-hour shifts with up to 14 clients at Malta brothel
A Colombian woman testified she worked 12-hour shifts with up to 14 clients at a Malta brothel. Joseph Zammit, 50, faces nine charges including human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Colombian witness details gruelling shifts and unpaid debts in Malta trafficking case
A Colombian woman told a Maltese court on Wednesday that she served between 10 and 14 clients during daily 12-hour shifts while working at an alleged brothel in Malta, Times of Malta reports. The woman said the working hours had never been discussed before she travelled to the island, and the schedule left her exhausted.
The witness was testifying in a case against Joseph Zammit, 50, from Marsascala, who faces nine charges in total. These include human trafficking for exploitation, sexual exploitation, money laundering, unlawful arrest or detention, the use of violence or coercion, and knowingly keeping people against their will in a brothel. The charges relate to offences allegedly committed on 20 October 2026 and in the months preceding that date. Recidivism is also listed among the charges.
Zammit has a prior conviction: in 2018 he received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a €450 fine after admitting to using massage parlours for prostitution.
Debt, rent and profit-sharing
The woman told Magistrate Lara Lanfranco that Zammit had contacted her in Colombia via video call to discuss prostitution work in Malta. She had been introduced to him through a Colombian friend. At the time, she was struggling to repay a debt linked to a mortgage on her mother's house — her father had borrowed money from a bank, used the funds to cover his medical treatment after falling ill, and had placed the property as collateral. Her brother had been killed in 2024, leaving her with no other source of support.
Zammit told her she would work on a 50% profit-sharing basis. She was also informed that, upon arrival, she would owe €4,000 for "travel arrangements" and would not receive full payments until that debt had been cleared. What she did not know before leaving Colombia was that she would also be charged €150 per week in rent for a bed in a three-bedroom apartment. That amount was deducted from the sum handed to her every Friday.
Rates, cash and Revolut
The accused had instructed her to treat clients well so they would return. He also specified that oral sexual services were to be provided without protection and without additional charge, while intercourse was priced at €60 for 30 minutes. Clients paid either in cash, which was placed in a box and later divided by Zammit, or via Revolut to his telephone number.
The women — always two at a time — worked at a Fgura residence. A knock at the door signalled an arriving client, who would then choose between the two. Cameras were installed in the hallway but not inside the bedrooms. The women used walkie-talkies to communicate when a client became difficult.
Zammit would sometimes come to vet clients and advise the women, via the walkie-talkies, to refuse certain individuals. However, the alleged victim said he was not always aware of dangerous clients, and that the women were consequently raped on some occasions.
During working hours the women were not permitted to leave the Fgura residence, though they were free to go out during the remaining hours of the day.
Return visit and a changed attitude
After her three-month tourist visa expired, the woman returned to Colombia and began selling clothes online. Before she left, Zammit had invited her to come back, noting that the earnings from prostitution far exceeded what she could make from selling clothes. She still had significant debt outstanding.
She returned to Malta in September, this time contacting Zammit herself. She paid €1,500 for her own flight, and Zammit collected her from the airport again, as he had done on her first visit.
The working conditions remained unchanged, but his demeanour had shifted. "He seemed to be under stress… sometimes, when he did not see that there was enough money or there were not enough clients, he would get angry and slam the doors," the woman recounted. He would become angry over minor matters — a broken item, or one of the women asking to go to the bank.
On her second visit she owed Zammit no travel debt, but he nonetheless withheld a €500 deposit, in addition to the weekly rent. The 50% payment split on sexual services also remained in place.
The woman, who was in Malta on a three-month tourist visa during both stays, returned to Colombia after the first visit. She lives there with her 13-year-old son, her mother, and the seven-year-old daughter of her late brother. She had not disclosed to her mother the nature of the work she was performing in Malta.
The case continues before Magistrate Lanfranco.
Source: Times of Malta