Lawyer advises Gozo Channel to give up on recovering stolen cash

Additional reporting by Chris Mangion

Gozo Channel has been advised by its lawyer against seeking the full reimbursement of money stolen by employees working in the company's ferry cafeterias. The pilferage dates back to 2007, and it is estimated that 10 Gozitan employees, some of whom have been employed with the company for seven years, stole approximately €500,000 over six years.

The case surfaced in court last Wednesday, when nine of the workers pleaded guilty to theft charges. A tenth pleaded not guilty.

MaltaToday is informed that the inquiry is ongoing.

When contacted by this newspaper, Gozo Channel Chairman Joe Cordina confirmed that the company's lawyer, who surprisingly turns out to be Andrew Borg Cardona,  a well-known anti-Labour blogger, has advised the company against seeking a full reimbursement from the workers "as it would be difficult to prove the stolen amount in court."

When asked directly whether Gozo Channel would waive the stolen amount and not seek reimbursement from the employees, Cordina was non-committal.

"Our legal advisor [Borg Cardona] has suggested it would be better to reach an agreement with them... the amount stolen is unknown and the lawyers are still seeing what best course of action to take," he said.

< page 1  According to the legal advice given to Gozo Channel, it would be cumbersome to open a civil case against each worker, as it would entail proving in court how much the workers stole individually. The police investigation, Cordina said, has not established the amount stolen.

The chairman also confirmed that the workers' employment has been terminated. They have been replaced by workers from other sections of Gozo Channel.

The case has also fuelled speculation as to why the allegations are only seeing the light of day now, given that the theft spanned over six years.

Cordina, Labour's former financial administrator, who was appointed chairman last month, said he filed a police report with the Victoria police station shortly after his appointment to the helm of the ferry transport provider.

"As soon as I filed the report, a magisterial inquiry was ordered, kick-starting investigations into the case," he said.

Cordina was told by the police in Gozo that this was the first report that had been filed.

But former finance minister Tonio Fenech and former Gozo Channel chairman Paul Curmi vehemently denied that the police were previously unaware of the case. In July 2012, then-Police Commissioner John Rizzo was approached by Curmi, appointed chairman four months before, to investigate apparent widespread pilferage at the cafeterias on board the Gozo Channel's vessels.

Correspondence seen by MaltaToday confirms this.

Internal investigations suggested that the pilferage could have been happening for years.

"We never made it public because the police had suggested we keep everything under wraps until all culprits had been caught," Fenech told MaltaToday.

"One employee caught stealing had admitted to fellow colleagues doing so. The police told us to keep quiet as not to disrupt the investigation, as we wanted to catch them all in the act."

During the course of the summer investigation, Assistant Commissioner Pierre Calleja, Superintendent Silvio Valletta and CID inspector Michael Mallia told Gozo Channel that it was at fault for the thefts, given that no concrete action was taken to ensure protection from abuses by its employees.

Questions on the auditing of the company and whether the company carried out adequate assessments of inventory arose.

At this point, Fenech asked the management to appoint a disciplinary board and, if necessary, issue a concession to outsource the cafeteria.

The former Gozo Channel chairman confirmed that the outsourcing of the cafeteria had been placed on the management board's agenda. But the outsourcing never took place. Plans for the appointment of an internal auditor were also discussed but no action was taken.

"It was too short a time to take action, given that our term was to expire soon," Curmi said when confronted by MaltaToday.

Asked whether it had followed up the issue with the police after filing the report, Curmi said the management board did not remain in contact.

"We did our part when we informed the police, and it was then up to the police to continue with its investigation. Internally we discussed measures which could be implemented to avoid such abuse," he said.

Asked whether the company had at least improved its stock-taking system, Curmi said "nothing in particular changed... but we received no other reports."

Over €500,000 suspected stolen from Gozo Channel

Last week, 10 of Gozo Channel's employees were arraigned in court, charged with stealing from the company since 2007. The amount stolen is said to be €500,000.

Superintendent Simon Galea and Inspector Frank Tabone told the court that the precise amount is still unknown, as the theft spanned over six years. The employees, they said, cannot repay the stolen money before the amount is confirmed.

Nine of the workers pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay back the stolen cash. Another worker denied the charges.

The workers are Anthony Mercieca, 47, from Xewkija, Alexander Cini, 40, from Zebbug, James Joseph Muscat, 35, from Xaghra, Darren Xerri, 29, Joseph Azzopardi and Herman Mifsud, both 35, all from Ghajnsielem, Lee-Anne Portelli, 34, from Victoria, Sara Buttigieg, 32, from Sannat and Dery Joseph Gauci, 31, from Kercem.

Sara Buttigieg was also charged with breaching the conditions of a previous sentence.

Those who pleaded guilty to the charges were placed on probation for three years.

James Joseph Muscat, who pleaded not guilty, was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €4,000.

In 2007, when the theft started, the company was reeling from the €70 million purchase in 2006 of its three ships, Malita, Ta'Pinu and Gaudos. At the time the company's assets stood at €14 million, and in 2006 Gozo Channel registered an operational loss of €50,507.