Enemalta has collected close to €500,000 following intensive efforts to recover revenue from electricity theft related to more than 600 ‘misplaced’ case files.
Through the court registry, The Sunday Times of Malta accessed the official letters Enemalta is sending to those accused of theft in relation to these cases dating as far back as 2005. The letters demand payment within three days to avoid criminal proceedings. So far, around 400 official letters have been sent out.
In March, the government had said that the files were found in four boxes after a tip-off from “a whistleblower”.
All 665 cases had been the subject of police investigations confirming the theft, and a criminal complaint had been lodged. But they were put away before any revenue had been recovered, Enemalta said.
It was estimated that the theft from these 665 cases amounted to more than €2 million, with some “running into hundreds of thousands”. Yet the bulk of the official letters seen by The Sunday Times of Malta referred to amounts ranging between €2,000 and €5,000. The individuals and companies in this batch of files discovered did not benefit from the same kind of amnesty afforded by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to those who had tampered with smart meters.
Enemalta said as part of its revenue recovery procedure, official letters were sent to request payments from customers who were found to have had irregularities in their electricity meter readings.
“These letters are the first step in a normal legal procedure to recover payments due to Enemalta in cases where customers refuse to pay their dues voluntarily,” it said.
Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had said the 665 cases dated back to between 2006 and 2011. Yet, an official letter sent to a Gozo hotel refers to electricity theft detected in 2005 and valued at more than €20,000. This was one of the higher amounts in the official letters seen relating to this batch of cases.
The Sunday Times of Malta also came across other official letters sent in recent months to big companies requesting payment for far larger amounts, totalling hundreds of thousands of euros. Enemalta would not confirm whether these were related to the smart meter tampering and subsequent amnesty, which benefited 200 companies.
The government had given those involved six weeks to come forward with information on who supplied them with the meters, pay a fine and their dues back to the corporation, or face tougher penalties and prosecution.
Such a waiver was only granted to those tampering with their smart meters, while those whose cases were among the 665 files ‘misplaced’ were being asked to pay within days or face the possibility of criminal proceedings.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said the waiver had been offered because he “did not wish to embark on a nationwide witch-hunt”. The move was heavily criticised by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who accused the government of tolerating corruption.
Official letters at the court registry presented by Enemalta over the years show that the process of revenue collection is continuous. The corporation is owed millions, also in arrears and damage to its property.
In the last year alone, 13 official letters were sent to a construction company, which seems to have damaged the corporation’s cables on a particular road on a regular basis – damages date back to 2011 and total €25,000.
But it is electricity theft that cripples the corporation, estimated at around €30 million a year. Enemalta said it was committed to curb electricity theft and to recover lost revenue.