Anonymous letter accusing CPD personnel of fraud dismissed as vindictive by court

A magistrate has criticised lackluster investigations in a judgement acquitting two Civil Protection Department officers who had been accused of defrauding their employer.

Investigations began after the Ministry for Home Affairs and the media were sent an anonymous letter in December 2013, alleging that station officer Peter Paul Mercieca had allowed assistant rescue officer Adeodato Spiteri to go to Australia whilst still marking him as having reported for work in Gozo.

Spiteri's lawyers Joe Giglio and Charlon Gouder had argued that, far from being fraudulent, Spiteri's being marked as present on the attendance sheet was the result of a long-standing administrative practice, which was abandoned in 2010.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud remarked that a more thorough police investigation would have spared the accused unnecessary stress and worry. 



The court declared the men not guilty, pointing out that the fact that the anonymous letter had also been sent to the media was a reflection of the author's harmful intent, saying it was an indicator of the act being motivated by a personal vendetta.