A police sergeant who is facing criminal action for allegedly claiming undue extra duty payments has been described by his former superiors as an “upright” man who kept his subordinates “in check” and was “one of the best on duty".

The officers were testifying on Wednesday in proceedings against PS Alexander Schembri, 56, and Joseph Debrincat, 64, formerly stationed at the Valletta police station.

Investigations against them were triggered by an anonymous letter which landed on the desk of former CEO now Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa’ alleging that certain officers at Valletta were doing extra duties during normal work hours and were claiming payment for both.

The matter was referred to then-Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar who requested a report.

Subsequently, on the basis of the information received he held that there was no ground for further action and advised that the investigation was to be “put away,” Superintendent James Grech from the Economic Crimes Squad testified.

Investigations continued despite Cutajar's instructions

But the Internal Audit and Investigations Department had proceeded with their investigation into the goings on at the Valletta district, checking all those officers who earned more than €10,000 in extra duties in one year.

Some officers had received petty amounts of €20 or €30 spread over various months and those were deemed insignificant and having no criminal intent in those cases, explained Grech.

But that was not the case in respect of others.

Schembri, who was detail officer at the time - setting the schedules, assigning duties and confirming invoices including his own - stood out.

There were times when he worked more than 24 hours in one day and some of the hours were not written down in the detail (work schedule) but were traced on the invoice books.

Thus on April 17, 2019, he worked 32 hours and on July 30, 2019, he worked 27 hours in a day, said Grech.

During a five-and-half-hour interrogation, Schembri did not have a proper explanation for those extra hours, saying that there may have been some “mistake.”

Former Commissioner Cutajar testified that, from memory, he believed that it turned out that Schembri had been granted some time off in lieu.

“Alex (Schembri) was one of the best I had on duty,” he continued, explaining that he would occasionally alert him to some upcoming event that would need more officers on duty.

“But there was no need for me to tell him how to work out the detail,” added the former police chief.

Under further questioning, he gave an overview of how extra duties were paid and how sometimes unpredictable circumstances could create a need for some duty officer to step in on extra duty.

In that case, the payment would be classified as “revenue” and deposited in the state coffers rather than in the officer’s account.

Allegations were a surprise, says former assistant commissioner

Former Assistant Commissioner Stephen Mallia, who at the time was in charge of Region A - Valletta, Qormi and Paola- testified that he was “surprised” when first told about the allegations during a meeting with the former commissioner.

“Alex was an upright sergeant. He kept his subordinates in check. So naturally, someone might have been badly affected. At first I thought that this was some false allegation to get back at him [Schembri]”

He said he had faced Schembri about the allegations.

“Rest assured because there’s nothing in it. Everything is okay,” Schembri had insisted.

Mallia also passed on to Assistant Commissioner Ramon Mercieca a chat handed to him by Schembri so that “if it was a false allegation, the truth would come out.”

From then on, Mallia said he took a step back. It was not in his remit to investigate the matter which fell under his region.

Asked by defence lawyer David Bonello, Mallia confirmed that at the time the allegations emerged, Schembri was also president of the Malta Police Association.

A former superintendent stationed at Valletta for some nine months around the time of the allegations, when shown the anonymous letter testified that she had never seen it before and only heard about the allegations when summoned previously to the FCID.

She was still learning the ropes when promoted in rank and took instructions from AC Mallia.

But as for extra duties assignment, she mainly left that in the hands of detail officer Schembri “who was very well updated.”

Together they attended pre-event meetings to figure out the manpower needed on the day. There were many events in the capital such as Festival Malta and Carnival, explained Maria Stella Attard.

“But the detail officer was, in my opinion, excellent,” she went on.

There were minor and recurring events which he handled alone, telling her “leave it to me.”

Schembri would then email the detail to all units.

But she “never, never” gave out instructions to the detail officer about extra duties, she said.

Asked by the defence whether she had received any complaints in that regard, Attard said that there were a few from “some orderlies and some officers too.”

The case continues.

AG lawyers Maria Schembri and Etienne Savona prosecuted together with superintendent James Grech and inspector Christian Abela.

Lawyer Lennox Vella was counsel to  Debrincat.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and David Bonello appeared for Schembri.