An assistant dispatcher, formerly employed at Enemalta Corporation, was cleared of accepting bribes from a petrol station owner, in a case sparked by a cash token at Christmas. 

The case dated back to 2015, when a bowser driver, working for a private company subcontracted to distribute fuel to service stations, was handed an envelope by a Birkirkara station owner, with instructions to deliver it to Carmel Farrugia, the dispatcher.

After checking the contents of the envelope and discovering “at least €50” in cash, he approached the dispatcher’s superiors, alleging that the dispatcher was accepting monetary rewards from the petrol station owner who wanted to ensure a constant supply of fuel. 

Those allegations prompted company authorities to file a police report, whilst the dispatcher was suspended from work. 

Farrugia was subsequently prosecuted for bribery, denying the allegations and claiming that the envelope handed to him had contained no more than a cash token of €20.

Enemed’s executive chairman testified in the proceedings, confirming that it was customary for company employees to receive gifts from service stations at Christmas. He said that no report had ever been lodged against the accused. 

The company’s chief operations officer also testified that the driver, who had alleged that the dispatcher was receiving bribes, had in fact been fired from his job after the accused reported him to his superiors over third-party complaints to Enemed. 

The petrol station owner who had handed over the envelope explained in court that it was customary to gift employees and drivers with cash tokens or hampers at Christmas. 

The court, presided over by magistrate Audrey Demicoli, observed that in this case the accused was one of Enemalta Corporation’s workers who, in 2014, had been transferred to Engineering Resources Ltd.

In terms of the laws regulating that transfer, the accused was considered as employed by a private company, no longer a public officer and thus could not be found guilty of the offence of bribery by public officers. 

Moreover, even if that were not the case, all evidence showed that the €20 he received from the petrol station owner had simply been a Christmas gift like others handed out to management and drivers.

The court thus acquitted Farrugia of all criminal liability. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel.