A senior Identity Malta official was jailed for four years and ordered to refund over €44,000 after being found guilty of misappropriating agency funds.
Joseph Calleja, a 64-year old former senior principal at the agency’s passport section, was convicted of misappropriation after the court heard the testimony of Identity Malta officials, bank representatives, a security services company official, police officers and court experts.
The court heard how the agency grew suspicious when a number of bags containing money cashed in on nine different working days, which were meant to have been deposited at the bank, were unaccounted for.
Agency checks revealed that some €44,456 were missing.
Further checks revealed discrepancies between revenue and the amounts written down on company receipts, leading superiors to confront Calleja.
Calleja was tasked with carrying out the reconciliation process at the end of each working day and later hand over the bags to security officers so that they are transferred to the bank.
When confronted, the employee had some €1,500 in cash in his pockets, which he said he had withdrawn from his personal bank account earlier that day.
Deposit bags in his lunchbox
However, a number of safe deposit bags were found inside his lunchbox and desk.
Later, Calleja reportedly confessed to having misplaced three deposit bags full of money.
Fearing the consequences of a confession, he had decided to take matters into his own hands, seeking to redress the balance by delaying the deposit of bags at the bank.
However, that fact was not corroborated by any evidence, the court observed, pointing out various inconsistencies in the accused’s testimony.
A handwriting expert later confirmed that certain figures on the agency’s documents were written twice, cancelled or overwritten, with numbers cancelled out with corrector fluid, subsequently revealed under UV testing.
Signatures also matched that of the accused.
The police also discovered a number of safe deposit bags bearing cheques and cash, tucked away inside a briefcase at the accused’s home.
The court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, concluded that the prosecution had proved misappropriation and falsification of documents by the accused, though not fraud.
As for the punishment, the court observed that this had not been a one-off occurrence but a series of incidents involving a “substantial” amount of money and reflecting a betrayal of trust by the accused.
Calleja was jailed for four years and ordered to refund Identity Malta €44,456.
He was also ordered to pay €4,242 in court expert expenses.
Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee prosecuted.