A senior Identity Malta official, jailed and ordered to refund over €44,000 in January for misappropriating agency fees, has forfeited a further €11,000 for breaching a court-imposed freezing order. 

Joseph Calleja, 64, was jailed for four years after being found guilty of misappropriation by a Magistrates’ Court, in proceedings sparked by agency suspicions over a number of cash-filled bags, meant to be deposited at the bank, that were unaccounted for. 

Suspicions pointed in the direction of Mr Calleja, formerly employed at the passport section, who was tasked with carrying out the reconciliation process at the end of each working day and later hand over the bags to security officers for transfer to the bank.

Upon his arraignment in July 2017, the man had pleaded not guilty and had been granted bail under stringent conditions, including the terms of a freezing order upon all his assets, both movable and immovable. 

Yet that very same day, upon being released from preventive arrest, Mr Calleja had gone to the bank and withdrawn €20,000. Three days later, the accused again visited the bank, withdrawing a further €21,000 and retaining a minimal balance in his account. 

Investigators later found no money at Mr Calleja’s home, but they did find €36,500 at a relative’s home. 

The withdrawals landed the man back in court within a week, facing fresh charges related to the breach of the freezing order. 

Those proceedings resulted in a conviction in November 2017 in which MrCalleja was condemned to a six-month jail term and a €1,000 fine.

However, the Court had spared him forfeiture of his €11,000 bail bond. 

While the accused appealed that conviction, the Attorney General also filed an appeal arguing that the bail money was also to be forfeited in favour of the state coffers. 

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, rejected Mr Calleja’s arguments that the money had been withdrawn to cover his daily needs and to meet his lawyer’s fees. 

Moreover, the Court observed that the accused was present when the Magistrate had read out the terms of the freezing order, allowing him the annual statutory allowance of €13,976. 

There was no reason to vary the discretion of the first court on that score, the Judge declared.

However, the AG’s appeal was upheld since the forfeiture of the bail bond under the particular circumstances of the case was mandatory, leaving the court no discretion once the breach of the freezing order had been proved.