The dockyard payroll robbery, carried out on April 22, 1948, was Malta’s biggest ever up to that time. At about 10.30 a.m., a Royal Navy truck which had earlier left Barclays Bank in Merchants Street, Valletta, on its way to the dockyard, was stopped near the Technical School in Corradino Road, Paola.
The truck, carrying a total of £126,740 in canvas bags, was stopped by three armed men who blocked the road with a car. Press reports that the robbers were wearing police uniforms were incorrect.
The truck was being driven by Emmanuele Conti, and Leading Stoker Cocks and Able Seamen J. Holis and L. Manteville, the three escorts, were only armed with a bayonet. The other dockyard personnel in the truck were Mr Papagiorcopulo, assistant cashier, and John Debarro, head messenger at the dockyard.
The armed men ordered all the men in the truck to alight and stand clear of the vehicle. The robbers boarded the truck and drove off towards Tarxien and then on to Żebbuġ.
The police and the Naval authorities were informed and a search began for the missing truck. At about 11.45 a.m. the Żebbuġ police were informed that two men were seen abandoning a Navy truck in Wied isSewda, limits of Żebbuġ.
This information was passed on to Superintendent Emmanuele Calleja, who at that time headed the Criminal Investigation Department. A search was carried out near the abandoned truck and a pair of gloves and a raincoat were found. In one of the raincoat’s pockets the police also found a revolver wrapped in a cloth.
Meanwhile, police inquiries revealed that the car used in the robbery, registration number 6747, was licensed to Pinu Tanti from Luqa, who had earlier reported the theft of the vehicle. However, when questioned by the police, Tanti told Superintendent Calleja that if given police protection he was ready to give vital information about the case.
Eventually, Tanti divulged the names of four suspects – Manwel Cardona, Ġeraldu Cassar, Salvu Fenech and Ġanni Gambin. Tanti said Cardona had told him that they needed the car for the robbery.
A search in the residences of the four suspects proved futile. However, the search continued in Fenech’s farmhouse at Tal-Ħlas and nearby fields.
The police believed that the bags containing the coins were hidden under the soil and for this reason the Bomb Disposal Squad of the British Forces, equipped with a metal detector, were requested to assist in the search. The police of the Central Police District, under the guidance of Superintendent Edward Bonnici Soler, also used a tractor in the search.
The police decided to search the Sliema house of the truck driver, Emmanuele Conti, as he was suspected of being an accomplice.
Nothing connected with the crime was found. Conti later proved to be a witness for the prosecution as he recognised Geraldu Cassar as one of the robbers.
The first money bag was recovered by PC Saviour Micallef under a heap of brushwood and rubble in Wied is-Sewda. After more canvas bags were found, the search was extended , and in the corner of Fenech’s farmhouse, four cases containing £80,000 were found beneath the floor slabs.
A machine-gun used in the robbery was also found.
By noon of the following day, another case containing £20,000 was uncovered in a field next to the farmhouse belonging to Pawlu Camilleri. However, for some reason, the search was called off, although £22,790 were still missing.
The money recovered was taken to Police headquarters, then in Fleur-de-Lys and Superintendent Calleja and his men were warmly welcomed by the Commissioner and other police officers on arrival.
The Prime Minister, Dr Paul Boffa, went to police headquarters to congratulate the police.
Prof. Giuseppe Hyzler, leader of the Democratic Action Party, durign the parliamentary adjournment speech of April 29, asked the prime minister to convey his thanks to the police for the efficient way they had carried out the investigations
The Governor of Malta, Francis Douglas also congratulated the police, and in a communication to the prime minister wrote: “I congratulate you more heartely on the results of the investigations into the recent armed robbery Would you be so good as to convey to the Commissioner of Police and his officers and men my warm appreciation of this very fine achievement.”
Superintendent Emmanuele Calleja, who was in charge of the investigations.
In a letter of appreciation to the Police Commissioner, Dr Boffa wrote: “Although I have been seeing you quite frequently I feel I should place on record my appreciation of the excellent manner in which you and your officers and men have dealt with the case of the recent hold-up and robbery of Dockyard funds.
“The prompt and efficient action taken by Superintendent Emmanuele Calleja and the officers and other ranks of the uniformed branch is deserving of congratulations and I should like an expression of my thanks to be conveyed to all personnel engaged in the case.”
Meanwhile the police arrested Ġeraldu Cassar, 24, Salvu Fenech, 24, Manwel Cardona, 26, Ġużeppi Cachia, 27, Ġanni Gambin, 31, and Ġanni Buttigieg. When questioned by Superintendent Calleja, all suspects denied their involvement in the robbery.
Later, Buttigieg offered to reveal the details of the robbery if he was allowed to turn King’s evidence. After the Governor approved his immunity, Buttigieg made a written statement implicating the other suspects.
Eventually, all suspects admitted their guilt. In his statement Cardona said that it was Gambin who proposed the robbery and that on the day of the crime he (Cardona) went near Barclays Bank in Valletta to make sure that the money was loaded in the truck. Cardona said he later joined Cassar and Fenech who were waiting in a car at Blata lBajda.
Fenech said that he joined in the robbery as he needed money and that he had acquired the machine-gun from an aircraft which had crashed in one of his fields during World War II.
He also said that during the robbery he accidentally fired the machine gun which at that time was pointed upwards. Gambin, a Dockyard driver, told Superintendent Calleja that Cardona had proposed the robbery.
The five men were later charged i n t he Magistrates’ Court . Three were accused of carrying out the robbery and the others with complicity . On November 23, 1948, the five accused appeared the Criminal Court before Mr Justice William Harding.
They were all charged with planning the robbery. Cassar, Fenech and Cardona were charged with committing the robbery armed with revolvers and a machine gun. Cachia was indicted as an accomplice, undertaking to place a No Entry sign on the road near the Cospicua tunnel to stop the traffic coming from that direction. (In actual fact, Cachia had not placed the sign).
The prosecution was led by Dr Joseph Reynaud. Dr Edoardo Magri, Dr Vincent Scerri , Dr Maurice Caruana Curran, Dr Albert Ganado, and Dr Joseph Flores assisted Cassar, Fenech, Cardona, Cachia and Gambin respectively . Edward Borg Cardona was the foreman of the jury.
Buttigieg testified that the robbery had been planned by him, Cassar, Fenech and Cardona during a meeting at Marsa three months before the robbery. During further meetings it was agreed that after the robbery the money would be hidden in a field outside Żebbuġ and eventually be divided equally between them.
Buttigieg went on to say that on the morning of April 22 he met Cassar at Marsa and they went to Luqa where they had agreed to pick up the car owned by Lippu Tanti.
According to Buttigieg, when they arrived at Luqa, Tanti informed them that the deal was off and at first he refused to give them the ignition key. The witness said that eventually Tanti gave it to them and they proceeded to Marsa where they met Cardona, who had brought the firearms, and later met Fenech.
In further evidence Buttigieg said that during the hold-up he was armed with an unloaded automatic pistol, Cassar and Cardona carried a revolver, and Fenech had a sub-machine gun.
The witness admitted that he had pointed the gun at the driver and had told him to alight from the vehicle, and that at that time they were all masked, except for Cassar, who wore sunglasses.
He explained that they then went to Paola Square, down the Addolorata Cemetery hill and on to Żebbuġ where they hid the money under a tree in Fenech’s field. Buttigieg said that he was told to guard the money, but he left when he saw a boy watching him.
Under Buttigieg cross-examination denied that he threatened a certain Karmnu Bezzina who alleged that he had been asked by Ġeraldu Cassar to join them in the robbery.
The defence attacked t he validity of the evidence given by Buttigieg . It was said that his evidence could not be taken into consideration as he was one of the principals in the holdup. However, in the summing up, Mr Justice Harding said that according to legal doctrine the King’s evidence warrant was unchallengeable. The jury retired to consider their verdict at 5.45 p.m. and returned at 6.55 p.m. Cassar, Fenech and Cardona were unanimously found guilty of being principals in the theft aggravated by the amount stolen, means and violence.
Cassar was sentenced to 11and-a-half years’ hard labour, Fenech received an 11-year sentence and Cachia 10 years. Gambin was acquitted as he was found not guilty.
(The Sunday Times)