Cleaner who stole thousands caught on video

A woman was yesterday ordered to pay over Lm16,000 to Paul Debono Jewellers Ltd after a court ruled she had repeatedly robbed the firm.

The company filed a writ in the First Hall of the Civil Court against Cettina Camilleri and her husband Nazzareno. It claimed that the woman had been employed as a cleaner with Paul Debono, a shareholder in the company, for some four years.

The company claimed that Camilleri stole a large amount of money and jewellery from Debono and requested the court to order the woman and her husband to refund the money and the value of the jewellery.

Mr Justice Tonio Mallia noted that Debono used to keep money and jewellery belonging to the business at his home. He had noticed that money was missing and had suspected Camilleri of the crime.

It resulted that as a rule Debono used to take the takings from the company's outlets to his home and that he used to hide the money in bags behind the sofa. The money was kept at home for a number of days until it was deposited in the bank. The cash was counted before it was hidden.

Mr Justice Mallia noted that at the end of the month the cash was checked against the money lodged in the accounts. Thus, the discrepancy was noted at the end of each month.

Debono had decided to set a trap for Camilleri and had placed a bag containing paper behind the sofa. Camilleri was caught on video rummaging in the bag. She admitted to the police that she had been stealing money for some time but insisted that she had stolen about Lm7,000.

However, the court noted that the company had satisfactorily proven that Camilleri had stolen Lm13,360 in cash from the money kept at Debono's home.

The court also heard evidence to the effect that Camilleri had stolen a necklace valued at Lm3,000 from the company.

The court ordered her to pay Lm16,360 to the company together with interest.

It upheld a preliminary plea filed by Camilleri's husband and declared that he was not involved in the theft nor was he responsible to effect payment.