All cash 'returned' to Magic Kiosk owner

All the cash found at the Magic Kiosk in Sliema during its demolition last Friday was returned to the owner under police supervision, the Land Department said yesterday.

A total of €530 was returned, in stark contrast with owner Joe Pace's original claim that there was up to €70,000 in the restaurant at the time.

When contacted yesterday, Mr Pace strayed considerably from his original claim, and said there was probably around €9,500 in the safe under his cash register. He insisted that he was still unaware of what had happened to this money.

The Land Department said Mr Pace, 74, had signed a document for the €530 found in the cash register, which specified that, to his knowledge, there was no other cash on the premises.

But according to Mr Pace this was not the case. He said the handwritten document only specified that he had been given the €530.

"There was around €9,500 in the safe, including my workers' wages. But the point is that when I arrived they had already forced open the safe and cash register. When they called me to count the money, everything had already been forced open."

But this claim was rebutted by the Land Department which said Mr Pace was on the scene when the cash register was being opened and that the money was counted in his presence. Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi said yesterday that only moveable objects were confiscated, and these would be auctioned off within a month.

The controversial Magic Kiosk was dismantled after 30 years once the lease on the land had expired. Despite two eviction notices, Mr Pace failed to leave the premises.

Mr Pace had asked the court to issue an injunction against the demolition on grounds of discrimination. Although no injunction was granted, a court hearing was set for Friday, so Mr Pace expected the issue to be resolved in court before his property was dismantled.

The kiosk was still serving customers last Thursday evening, and his 20 or so employees turned up for work the next day, only to find public service workers tearing down the place with cranes in the presence of police.

The work is expected to be completed by Tuesday.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com