Clerk, salesman cleared of misappropriation

A clerk and a salesman were yesterday cleared of misappropriating Lm15,000 from the company where they formerly worked.

Martin Formosa, 43, of Paola, and Raymond Galea, 44, of Zabbar, respectively a former clerk and a former salesman at Chef Choice Company Limited, were cleared of misappropriating the money to the detriment of the company between January 1996 and October 1998.

Magistrate Abigail Lofaro heard how the owner of the company, Joseph Mizzi filed a police report in which he alleged that Formosa and Galea were responsible for the Lm15,000 discrepancy between the delivery van's load and the sales.

Magistrate Lofaro heard how one of Formosa's duties was to assist the loading of the stock onto delivery vans and fill in a loading chart. Formosa was not involved in the handling of the cash or cheques the salesmen accumulated during their day's work.

Galea's duty was to deliver orders to clients after the van was loaded by handlers in the clerk's presence.

As a salesman, Galea also inserted all sales into an invoice book. Any unsold stock was stored in the van until the end of the week when it was counted or weighed by a different people.

Magistrate Lofaro noted that at the time the employees at Chef Choice were under pressure because they were under-staffed so stock taking and reconciliation was not done on a regular bases.

On handing down judgment, Magistrate Lofaro noted that Formosa and Galea were not the only clerks and salespersons employed at the time.

She also noted that during the stock taking and reconciliation that had taken place between 1996 and 1998 there had been no complaints.

She ruled that in the case of Formosa, the allegations had not been proven to the level required by the law and that in the case of Galea the link between him and the missing money had not been established.

Police Inspector Alexandra Mamo prosecuted.

Dr Louis Cassar Pullicino appeared for Formosa while Dr José Herrera and Dr Shazoo Ghaznavi appeared for Galea.