Gozo Channel employee gets community service for 'joke' theft

A Gozo Channel employee has been ordered to complete 50 hours of community service after hiding €3,000 in his car as a 'joke'

Magistrate Joseph Mifsud admonished the ferry company for failing to present a note of submissions in the case and for not being consistent in dealing with employee theft
Magistrate Joseph Mifsud admonished the ferry company for failing to present a note of submissions in the case and for not being consistent in dealing with employee theft

A Gozo Channel employee has been ordered to complete 50 hours of community service after being found guilty of stealing an envelope containing €3,000 in proceeds from ticket sales and then claiming it to have been a joke.

In his judgement in the case of ticket collector Joseph Portelli, magistrate Joseph Mifsud admonished the ferry company for failing to present a note of submissions in the case and for not being consistent in how it dealt with cases of thefts by employees.

The court noted with disappointment that the company “is not proceeding along the same lines in cases appearing before this court. Whereas in cases over a few euros it brings all its cannons to bear against those accused, in this case over a substantial amount of cash, it remained passive,” the magistrate remarked.

Portelli worked as a ticket collector with the Gozo Channel until July 2014, when he had found some €3,000 in an envelope on the baggage trailer being used by another employee, Emanuel Cremona. Upon finding the envelope containing cash collected from ticket sales, the accused hid it in his vehicle.

Once Cremona noted the missing envelope, he informed his workmates and had conducted a search for it. Some time later Portelli had retrieved the still-sealed envelope from his vehicle and handed it to Cremona, telling him that it had been a joke.

The police had investigated the case after the incident made the news and had demanded to know why the ferry operating company had not reported the attempted theft to police.

One witness, Joe Vella, had said that the money was returned after he had informed management that he had seen Joseph Portelli on CCTV.

The court noted that Gozo Channel had no intention of filing a police report on this incident and the police had only become involved as a result of the media report. “According to Chairman Joseph Cordina, an internal inquiry was held, and the case was then closed.”

Cordina had taken the witness stand, explaining the incident to have been an example of a prank gone wrong, adding that it had been an internal disciplinary matter. “I don’t think this was a case where the police needed to get involved. Everything was found as they left it, the envelope was not opened, meaning it was ‘cajta goffa’”

The court, took a dim view of this, however, opining that “with all due respect to the Chairman, it is not within his competence to decide on what is and what isn't a criminal act.”

The court noted that while the accused always claimed it to have acted in jest, this did not justify his actions.

The crime of theft was completed when the envelope had been taken and hidden in the accused’s car. The court sentenced the accused to 50 hours community service.