Identity Malta employee charged in court over embezzlement of funds

An Identity Malta employee has been granted bail after pleading not guilty to embezzling thousands of euros from the granting of passports.

Joseph Calleja, 60, from Mosta faced charges of misappropriation, fraud and falsification of documents – offences aggravated by the fact that he’s a public officer.

The police investigation was launched on the request of Identity Malta, when the agency noticed a discrepancy of between €20,000 and €25,000 when reconciling its accounts.

Identity Malta then found Calleja in possession of tampered receipts. According to the parliamentary secretariat for citizenship, the employee in question admitted to having pocketed the funds and promised to return the money back, on condition that the police aren’t called in.

However, in court today, the man pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution said in court that Calleja was employed with the Passport Department, responsible from the reconciliation of funds.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud upheld the bail request, against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000.