An Enemalta employee and an alleged middleman in the smart meter scam yesterday became the fifth and sixth persons to be charged over the theft of electricity.
Martin Cilia la Corte, 49, a cleaner from Marsascala, and Anthony Mifsud, 50, a skilled labourer from Baħrija, pleaded not guilty to their involvement in the scandal which has so far seen two of the six men arraigned each jailed for two years.
The scam was uncovered last June when two meters were found to be under-registering consumption by up to 92 per cent. On further investigation, Enemalta found that meters were being rigged and installed by technicians against a payment that averaged €1,200 per installation.
Mr Cilia la Corte, the alleged middleman, denied charges of unlawful exaction, bribery, bribing a public official and embezzlement. He is not employed by Enemalta.
Mr Mifsud, who works for the State power agency, denied accepting bribes as a public official, unlawful exaction and defrauding Enemalta.
Lawyer Giannella de Marco, for Mr Cilia la Corte, requested bail, adding that Police Inspectors Daniel and Roderick Zammit could not object on grounds that evidence might be tampered with. The prosecution did not even know who the witnesses were, so how could the evidence be tampered with, the lawyer wondered. She questioned the prosecution’s argument that conformity needed to be kept, saying they were dealing with bail and not sentencing.
The prosecuting officers responded that the police did know who the witnesses were and also that some of them had been contacted and threatened.
Mr Mifsud’s lawyer, Caroline Farrugia, said her client had released a police statement a month ago and if evidence had to be tampered with, that would have happened by now. Magistrate Audrey Demicoli denied bail for both men.
Technicians Emanuel Micallef and Richard Gauci have been charged with accepting bribes to install the rigged meters and receiving an average €1,200 for each installation. Another Enemalta employee, Paul Pantalleresco, admitted to the same charges and was jailed for two years.
Carmel Vella of Żejtun pleaded guilty to bribery and defrauding Enemalta of some €3,000 and was also jailed for two years.