‘Camilleri admitted and paid back, more than what he took’ – supermarket boss

Valyou Supermarket director Ray Mintoff admitted with MaltaToday that he confronted journalist Ivan Camilleri over an alleged incident of shoplifting despite the journalist issuing a denial.

It was Mintoff who told MaltaToday that he brought the matter to the attention of Camilleri and got him to admit and pay for the items that were pilfered.

Mintoff had told MaltaToday that he was paid in full for the goods that went unaccounted for. He was at first unwilling to discuss the matter when the name of the journalist was broached.

“Look, I can give you a list of people who have stolen from here, priests, nuns… I confronted him after and he was man enough to admit it and I assure he paid back, more than what he had taken… he said he should have known better because that’s what people expect from him. Yes, he paid for the mistake.”

In a lengthy Facebook statement, Camilleri this afternoon said that he was the one to approach Mintoff and explain himself over an incident at the Naxxar supermarket.

While Camilleri has denied shoplifting in a Facebook post, he claims he “mistakenly placed some small items in the shopping cart which I forgot to pass through the counter for payment together with all my family’s shopping. The items were not hidden in any way.”

Camilleri says that after the cashier enquired about the items while he was leaving, he settled the bill and afterwards also proceeded to speak to supermarket boss Ray Mintoff about the “mishap”.

“I immediately realised I had forgotten some items, excused myself for the mishap and paid there and then for the items. Afterwards, I also spoke about the incident directly to the owner of the supermarket, Mr Ray Mintoff, and explained what happened.”

Camilleri says Mintoff immediately recognised his mistake “and said these things can happen to anyone. He said that the incident stopped there as this was absolutely no case of shoplifting.”

MaltaToday was told that staff manning the CCTV alerted management that Camilleri had an unspecified amount of highly-priced goods. Camilleri was personally contacted by the supermarket after the incident.

But when contacted by MaltaToday earlier in the day, Camilleri came back with a written reply threatening legal action. “Your info is completely incorrect, a fiction [sic] of your imagination and a blatant lie. I am looking forward for your filthy story so that my lawyers can have some nice work to do. You have to stoop much lower to tarnish my reputation and integrity. Publish this in full in your fabricated story please as my reply.”