Gaming company employee admits to fraud, misappropriation from employer

A betting company employee has admitted to having misappropriated over €5,000 worth of betting slips.

Luca Celotto, 21, from Sanremo in Italy appeared in the dock before magistrate Charmaine Galea this afternoon, charged with fraud and misappropriation.

Inspector Roderick Agius explained that after helping himself to the tickets, the accused would tamper with reconciliations to make the disappearance harder to detect.
Later reconciliations discovered the fraud and a subsequent internal investigation found CCTV evidence confirming Celotto’s guilt.

The accused pleaded guilty.

Legal aid defence lawyer Charmaine Cherrett argued that the accused had cooperated fully and obliged himself to pay the full amount of €5,112 back. He had already paid €300 and the balance would be settled by his father tomorrow morning. 

The accused wept bitterly as she said this.

After Celotto confirmed his admission, the prosecution asked for the court to hand down judgment next week as this would give time for his father to come to Malta and pay, but this raised the issue of where he would live when on bail.

The prosecution then objected to bail before the payment of the amount is made in its entirety, but the court, in view of the accused’s admission, said it would sentence the man today.

Whilst the accused sobbed inconsolably, the court said that the accused had already paid part of the sum and cooperated with the police. It found him guilty and handed him a sentence of 20 months suspended for two years and ordered him to repay the money within 48 hours.