Former Enemalta employee admits to charges

Richard Gauci, 47 of Rabat pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and defrauding Enemalta through the installation of smart meters which were tampered with in order to read less consumption.

Magistrate Carol Peralta today started hearing four compilations of evidence against Richard Gauci, Martin Cilia La Corte, Anthony Mifsud and Manoel Micallef, all charged in connection with Enemalta smart meter scam.

At the start of the sitting lawyer Domenic Micallef told the court that his client Richard Gauci was pleading guilty to the charges.

Calling in recent legal amendments concerning guilty pleas during a compilation of evidence, Magistrate Peralta chose not to hear six witnesses summoned today and postponed the case to 5 May for judgement. This was the first time these amendments were brought into action.

Next in the dock were 49-year old Martin Cilia la Corte of Marsaskala, and 50-year old Anthony Mifsud of Rabat.

The prosecution and the defence agreed that witness common to both cases would be heard once and the evidence inserted in both cases.

Taking the witness stand, inspector Daniel Zammit explained how in October 2013 he received a report from Enemalta relating to use of electricity through smart meters which registered a discrepancy in consumption. Equipment was brought over by Enemalta and engineers started doing onsite checks.

Three meters were sent over to Enel in Italy for further tests. Enel found that the internal circuit board was modified to read between 20% and 90% less energy consumed. Three employees were arrested and arraigned. Police found that these employees were getting paid between €500-€1,000 by account holders for every meter installed.

Further investigation revealed that a number of people, some of whom were not Enemalta employees, were working as intermediaries for the scheme. One of these people was the accused Martin Cilia La Corte. The accused would approach account holders and inform them of the availability of smart meters which were tampered with to under read, and the cost of such installation.

Cross examined by lawyer Gianella de Marco, the prosecuting inspector said that over 400 account holders were involved in the scam, and the police had spoken to around a 100 of them. Of these six or seven identified La Corte as the person who introduced them to the scam.

Enemalta internal auditor Mantoine D’Ambrogio and engineer Carmel Scerri recounted how the Corporation came to know about the scam. A benchmark test of a meter in Attard under-read by 70% and a meter installed In Fgura under-read by 90%. The common factor in these meters as that they were installed by Richard Gauci and had not been replaced in a roll-out of smart meters, but no reason could be traced why they were changed.

Another meter which was tampered with was installed by the accused Anthony Mifsud. The meter installed at Mifsud’s residence was also found to have been tampered with. A further three account holders pointed at Mifsud as being a middleman in the scam.

Tests done by Enel confirmed that the meters had been opened and had hardware modifications, resulting in registering less consumption.

At the end of the sitting, Magistrate Peralta granted Martin Cilia La Corte bail after the prosecution explained that the amnesty period for account holders to come forward was now over.

La Corte was released on deposit of €1,500 and a personal guarantee of €8,500. In the case of Anthony Mifsud, the court postponed the request for bail for Thursday, awaiting the reply from the Attorney General.

Richard Gauci, the third man, admitting to charges of tampering with the meters. Over the past three months, Paul Pantalleresco, 55, Mqabba  and Carmel Vella, 55 of Zejtun, both pleaded guilty and were jailed for two years and handed a general perpetual interdiction. Ten other employees are suspended from office as the investigations continue.

Account holders testify

In a separate sitting against Manoel Micallef, 35 of Mtarfa, witness Eric Montfort from Enemalta’s legal office exhibited a document dropping charges against Joseph Stivala, of Luqa; Carmelo Agius, of Qormi and George Mifsud of Qormi. The three men benefited from a scheme for those who had tampered meters but chose to come forward and regularise their position.

Caroline Zerafa, from the Attorney General, exhibited certificates exempting the men from criminal proceedings.

First on the witness stand was George Mifsud, who said he met the accused in a coffee shop in Rabat. “After mentioning he worked at Enemalta, I told him that I still had the old meter installed. The accused replied that he could install a smart meter for me himself, and jokingly I told him to get me a meter which would charge less.

“However the accused told me there was a solution which would cost me €1,500. I agreed and some weeks later he came to my residence, change the meter and took the money. I did not know what was different from other meters because it looked exactly the same as the rest.”

Cross-examined by Dr Joe Giglio, the witness told the court that on St Paul’s day, 10 February, he got to know about the scheme and approached Enemalta to benefit from it.

Joseph Stivala testified that he had called Enemalta, requesting that a smart meter is installed at his residence. The accused called at his residence to install the meter.

“I complained that through the use of smart meters utility bills will be more expensive. He told me he could fit a meter which under reads in exchange for €1,300. He returned to my house later, replaced the meter and took my money,” he said.

When he heard about the scheme granting account holders immunity he approached Enemalta about his meter.

The last account holder taking the stand today was Carmel Agius, who said he met the Enemalta installer in a coffee shop. “A man approached me outside the shop and offered to reduce my electricity bill by 20% or 30%. I agreed to pay him €1,000 for this. Four days later he called at my residence and replaced my smart meter and three hours later he installed a new meter.”

Agius approached Enemalta and owed up to his deeds when he heard about the immunity scheme. All three account holders identified the accused as the man who installed their modified meter.

The prosecution exhibited the three tampered smart meters belonging to the witnesses. Mifsud’s meter only registered 37%, Stivala’s 41% and Agius’s 39% of toktal consumption.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio argued that unfortunately the granting of bail in this case did not follow normal regulations, but “was governed by an administrative scheme with the sole aim that Enemalta recoups its monies, which apparently has not happened anyway.”

The lawyer informed the court he had filed a new request for bail. Magistrate Peralta postponed the case for Thursday, awaiting the reply from the Attorney General.