Valletta council confirms theft of money six days after robbery
Councillor alleges that it’s not the first time money was stolen from the local council
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Six days after money was stolen from the offices of the local council, the Valletta council issued a statement confirming the police had launched an investigation.
€1,050 were reported missing by the executive officer following an end-of-day report issued on Monday evening. In its statement, the Valletta council said one of its officials had left the keys to the cashbox in the desk’s drawer while he went for his break.
The local council said the Police were immediately called in and an investigation ordered.
“The matter was discussed during a closed meeting on Thursday where it was unanimously agreed that one would await the outcome of the investigation,” the council said. It’s not clear whether the council was referring to any actions that needed to be taken or why the theft had not been made public.
A number of council workers have been asked to make a statement.
In its statement, the local council accused Labour councillor Ray Azzopardi of “hindering” the police investigation after he went public with the theft on Facebook.
Azzopardi took to Facebook on Friday evening to reveal how money had been stolen from the offices of the local council. “A considerable amount of money was stolen, money that belongs to the people,” he said. The money in question was collected from fines.
“This is not the first time that money was stolen from the council … this is the second if not the third time,” he said.
Azzopardi went on to ask why the councillors had not been immediately informed of the theft and why the matter had been kept hidden from the Director of Local Councils.
He said, that the position of PN mayor Alexiei Dingli was no longer tenable.