An owner of a petrol station was cleared of bribing a public official by means of petty cash that turned out to be no more than a customary token at Christmas. 

Duncan Rizzo, 39, had landed in hot water with the police economic crimes unit in 2016 after a bowser driver had reported to Enemalta that an assistant dispatcher was allegedly receiving bribes from service station owners. 

That driver, working for a company subcontracted by Enemed to distribute fuel, had leaked information about the suspect bribery, prompting Enemalta’s chairperson to file a police complaint. 

The driver had subsequently released a statement claiming that one December day, back in 2015, the dispatcher at the Enemalta plant, who went by the name of ‘Charlie’, had handed out the day’s distribution list, with the added instruction, “make sure that he [Rizzo] hands over the envelope.”

That envelope, addressed to ‘Charlie’, had subsequently been consigned to the driver who sensed that it contained some money, “a €20 and €10” banknote, the police were told. 

Although this had been a one-off occurrence, the driver suspected foul play and stuck to his version even when it was suggested that the money might have been a token for Christmas. 

The service station owner was prosecuted for allegedly bribing the Enemalta dispatcher to make sure that the fuel bowser would call at his station, the allegation being that smaller businesses were often skipped in the distribution rounds. 

However, when all evidence had been put forward, the court observed that the prosecution had failed to summon ‘Charlie’ to testify, not even proving that he was employed by Enemed, resting solely on the chairperson’s testimony. 

Nor was there proof of any illicit agreement between the accused and the ‘public official’, noted the court, adding that “in the criminal field [there was] no room for conjectures and speculations.”

The prosecution’s case hinged upon the testimony of the alleged ‘middleman’, the driver who had passed on the ‘bribe’, and who, when testifying, had admitted that relations between him and ‘Charlie’ were sour. 

The accused’s version was corroborated by another witness who said that dispatchers and drivers would receive cash and other gifts, such as whisky, at Christmas. 

On the basis of all evidence put forward the court, presided over by Magistrate Nadine Lia, concluded that there was no sufficient proof of the alleged bribery, thus clearing the station owner. 

Lawyer Joseph Giglio was defence counsel.