Suspended sentence for man who applied for electricity meters at illegal sites

Updated 5.45pm with PA statement below.

A man has been handed a suspended sentence after he threatened an official to issue electricity metre compliance certificates for illegal structures.

Emmanuele Spagnol, a 71-year-old Żejtun man, faced a raft of charges, including being an accomplice in an offence where an electricity meter provided by Enemalta was used for a different scope than it was intended for, misappropriation, fraudulent gain, and making use of a false declaration to a public authority, among other charges.

The man denied the charges.

Spagnol is also facing separate charges, which he denies, in connection with the social benefits racket.

Former government backbencher Silvio Grixti is alleged to have played a central role by providing applicants with false medical certificates that secured them the severe disability allowance after they appeared before a medical board.

Co-accused Roger Agius, Emmanuel Spagnol, Dustin Caruana and Luke Saliba allegedly acted as agents or go-betweens, raking in payments from the successful beneficiaries.

The case dates to May 2010 and February 2011.

The police received a report on August 18, 2010, from architect Alexander Borg - who at the time was a manager within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA)’s enforcement unit - about alleged irregularities in the issuing of compliance certificates on premises found in ODZ areas.

Compliance certificates are needed when applying for an electric meter with the energy supplier.

One of the allegations concerned Robert Attard, a MEPA enforcement officer, who had told two of his colleagues that after being assigned ODZ areas, his life took a turn for the worse.

Attard had claimed that he had been threatened by Spagnol, who once pointed a weapon at his head after Attard refused to issue a compliance certificate. Attard had also said that he had no option but to issue compliance certificates on irregular structures due to Spagnol’s pressure.

In turn, Spagnol accused an enforcement officer of having requested payment for the issuing of a compliance certificate between June and July 2009. But the officer in question denied the allegation and instead claimed that Spagnol had applied for the issuance of a compliance certificate on a property that did not belong to him.

The report also referred to a case where the original permit attached to a compliance certificate application seemed tampered with in order to make the issuing of the certificate more favourable.

The prosecution alleged that Spagnol forged signatures on different applications, meaning that the applicants had never signed the applications themselves. It was also alleged that Spagnol was paid for managing to secure the provision of electricity on premises which would have never been given a meter had the application been done according to the law.

In total, there were 10 applications concerning structures and rooms in fields.

In court, it emerged that Enemalta had installed electricity in the premises. 

A witness told the court that he wanted electricity installed in old structures in order to be able to connect them to his stables, which were illegally built.

Initially, he had passed a wire to the stables, but Spagnol had applied for an electricity meter in some rooms in the field.

Another witness explained that the electricity meter had been installed outside the main gate, but the application had been made on a room which was about 60 meters away.

He then connected a wire to extend electricity to the other end of the field, which was then used by a third party.

The court also heard how an electricity meter was installed in an illegal garage and not in a room mentioned in the application. However, the owner of the garage was not called to testify in the proceedings, and it was something the prosecutor testified on.

The court observed that at least two individuals benefited from the service, remarking that it was convinced Spagnol knew that the services he was applying for were going to be used on different premises than those outlined in the application.

Had the application been made for the premises it was intended for, it would have never been successful.

The court found Spagnol guilty of making a false declaration to a public authority, noting that from the evidence it emerged that the accused had taken care of a number of applications to secure the provision of electricity for several individuals. The two-step process consisted of first securing a compliance certificate from MEPA (now the Planning Authority) and then presenting this certificate to Enemalta for the provision of service.

From the MEPA investigation, it had emerged that the compliance certificate on seven sites was based on untrue information, including an illegal development near the site indicated on the application.

It also transpired that in several applications, the photos submitted with MEPA were different to those submitted with Enemalta.

An architect testified that in several cases, compliance certificates were issued on a building which was pre-1967, but in reality, there would be illegal structures on which a compliance certificate would never be issued.

In other cases, the site plans provided to Enemalta were different to those provided to MEPA for the same site.

Beneficiaries in these cases told the court that the applications were handled by Spagnol, but they were unaware of the process, with the court ruling that he had forged the applications and the signatures on the applications to be submitted to Enemalta. Moreover, it also transpired that applications had fake photos and site plans annexed, and electricity was provided following the approval of applications containing falsified documents.

Threatening public official

Referring to the charge of threatening (with violence) a public official to issue the compliance certificates, Attard had testified that Spagnol pointed a pistol at his head and told him he had to issue all the compliance certificates he applied for. 

Spagnol allegedly mentioned Attard’s parents and told him to approve all the applications.

Attard said he feared for his safety and issued eight to 10 compliance certificates that should never have been issued. He also mentioned the traumatic effect the ordeal had on him.

The court observed that no weapon was found at Spagnol’s residence; however, it found that Attard was threatened to approve Spagnol’s applications.

When making its considerations on punishment, the court observed that the charges were very serious since they attacked the integrity of the institutions and public officials.

However, it also noted that the proceedings have been ongoing since February 2012.

This was due to several reasons, including the prosecution’s long witness list, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on court proceedings, and constitutional proceedings filed by the accused to attack the validity of his statement to the police.

It was also noted that the accused changed his lawyer several times and took long to bring forward his evidence.

The court handed the man an 18-month prison term suspended for four years.

He was ordered to pay €1,053.94 in court expenses.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana presided over the court.

Lawyer Roberto Spiteri appeared for the accused.

Planning Authority welcomes decision

The Planning Authroity in a statement, welcomed the court's decision.

"The court’s ruling rightly acknowledges the seriousness of the threats, intimidation, and undue pressure directed at a former enforcement officer who was simply carrying out his official duties. Any attempt to influence, intimidate, or undermine public officials constitutes an attack on the integrity of the regulatory process," the PA said.

It reiterated its "firm and unwavering stance" not to tolerate any form of abuse, harassment, or interference towards any of its officers.

"This judgment reinforces the importance of safeguarding those who serve the public and strengthens confidence in the fair and consistent enforcement of planning regulations," it said.