Restaurant owner Mario Pisani yesterday decided to boost a police investigation into the theft of €2,700 from his unattended till by sharing on Facebook an image of a man caught taking the money on CCTV.
The theft took place at about 11am when the man walked into L’Aroma in Sliema and, speaking “in perfect Italian”, asked the only employee there whether the lift to the adjacent hotel was working.
The employee said yes but the man remained in the restaurant. He continued looking around then stopped in front of the cigarette machine, giving the impression he was going to purchase a packet.
When the employee went into the kitchen, the man went behind the bar, opened the register and took the cash.
The money was meant to have been used to pay the restaurant’s six employees.
Mr Pisani said the staff member had been busy preparing for Sunday lunch.
An image taken from the restaurant’s CCTV footage was given to the police. It was also posted on Facebook in the hope someone recognises the perpetrator.