Thieves made away with €75,000 worth of fuel

The owner of Cassar Fuels Ltd recounted in a court how three bowsers containing superyacht fuel had been emptied, resulting in losses of €75,000 for his company.

Mark Cassar was giving evidence in the compilation of evidence against former police officer Peter Paul Attard, Joseph Sgendo and Chris Chircop. The three men, all from Msida, are charged with theft and handling stolen property.

Cassar said that on 18 October, 2008, at around 5:30am, his son went to mix a red additive to the three bowsers of fuel in order to be able to use it to resupply it to superyachts. The three bowsers were outside the company’s building in Triq il-Kummerc, Qormi.

Cassar said that he had five trucks locked inside the garage the previous night of the theft. “Whoever stole the fuel took out the bowsers without forcing the locks on the garage door. The CCTV footage and the computer it was stored on were also stolen. When my son told me they were empty I went to check then informed the police. Although the fuel itself was stolen, the company still had to pay VAT, tax and duty on it,” Cassar said.

The witness told the court that the theft must have been masterminded by someone who knew the layout of the offices. “I strongly believe it was former employee Kevin Debono who gave the information to the thieves,” he said.

Cassar also said that he knew Peter Paul Attard, but had previously warned him not to visit his offices. “However about three weeks prior to the theft I saw him in my garage talking to my son and other employees and demanded to know why he was there,” Cassar said.

Cross-examined by defence lawyer Lucio Sciriha, the witness confirmed he had personally locked the bowsers inside the garage, after loading them with fuel from the Enemalta depot at Ras Hanzir.

At the end of the sitting, Cassar exhibited documents showing the value of the fuel and the amounts of VAT, tax and duty paid.

Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha are appearing for the accused.