An Enemalta technician was yesterday jailed for two years for tampering with electricity meters.
Paul Pantalleresco, 55, from Mqabba, who pleaded guilty, was the first person to appear in court following this week’s widespread police probe into an energy theft racket.
Two other employees were remanded in custody after being charged with the same offence.
The three men were among eight Enemalta workers suspended so far.
Around 1,000 smart meters have been rigged and sources said account holders allegedly paid €1,200 for the job.
The meters had their internal resistors bridged, resulting in registering a fraction of the electricity units actually consumed.
In the first arraignment before Magistrate Francesco Depasquale yesterday afternoon, defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi said Mr Pantalleresco was responsible for tampering with “a small number” of meters, but prosecuting officer Daniel Zammit put the number at 250.
Mr Pantalleresco was also placed under a general perpetual interdiction, which effectively bans him from holding public office. In another two separate arraignments, Emmanuel Micallef, 35, from Mtarfa, an Enemalta distribution tradesman, and 47-year-old Richard Gauci from Rabat, were remanded in custody after pleading not guilty.
Mr Micallef’s lawyer, Joe Giglio, requested bail but the prosecution objected since investigations were still under way. Moreover, Inspector Zammit said, the account holders of the rigged smart meters were also being investigated and would be called in for questioning.
Dr Giglio argued that the consumers would not be considered as witnesses because, if charged, they would become co-accused, making their testimony in court inadmissible. “The prosecution’s argument is smart but not so smart, excuse the pun,” he told the magistrate.
However, Magistrate Depasquale still deemed it was “not opportune” for the accused to be released on bail for the time being. The same argument was made by Mr Gauci’s lawyer, Dominic Micallef, but the request was turned down for the same reason. Mr Gauci limped into the courtroom with a walking stick, having suffered a stroke some months ago.
Inspector Zammit told the court that although some 1,000 meters had been identified at this stage, Enemalta’s technicians had not managed to check each and every one. He said 95 per cent of the meters checked so far confirmed suspicions they had been altered.
The scam, which has been going on since 2011, was revealed last Tuesday when Enemalta suspended the first three employees suspected of tampering with meters.
The state energy corporation suspended another five employees on Wednesday as the investigation progressed. They are expected to be charged soon.
Minister sues PN paper for libel
Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi yesterday filed a libel suit against Nationalist Party daily In-Nazzjon over a story on its front page about the tampered electricity meters.
Dr Mizzi claimed the story entitled Skandlu minn persuna qrib Konrad Mizzi (A scandal from someone close to Konrad Mizzi) was libellous and intended to harm his reputation.
He filed the suit against editor Alex Attard and held him responsible for damages.