A fifth man was yesterday charged with complicity in the theft of 10.5 million cigarettes that went missing from the Freeport last August.

Patrick Pace, 49, a security guard (not at the Freeport) from Birkirkara, pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail against a deposit of €1,000 and a personal guarantee of €4,000.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella heard that, on the night of September 2, the accused was also found in possession of 10,000 cigarettes in his Mazda van during a police search in Madliena.

The Business Royals cigarettes that were found in 11 boxes had a commercial value of €3,190.

The cigarettes were part of a consignment of10.5 million that went missing from the Freeport last summer

Mr Pace was also accused of evading €17,462 in excise duty, €1,837 in importation duty and €4,048 in VAT. The prosecution said that the cigarettes were part of a large consignment that had gone missing from the Freeport last summer.

Four men have already been indicted in connection with this case. Haulier Malcolm Zammit, 35, from Qormi, security officer Christopher Calleja, 51, from Valletta, Customs officer Sebastian Zammit, 60, from Safi and Freeport employee Roderick Borg, 32, from Qormi are pleading not guilty.

It transpired in court that a container laden with cigarettes, which had entered the Freeport on July 24, could not be traced for about 90 minutes, and when it was found there was nothing inside.

The consignment consisted of 1,050 cases, each containing 10,000 cigarettes valued at €304,500 in total.

The men are alleged to have defrauded the government of €1.667 million in excise duty, €175,000 in importation duty and €386,000 in VAT, for a total of €2.23 million.

Police Inspectors Rennie Stivala and Carlos Cordina prosecuted.

Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Edward Gatt acted as counsel for the defence.