An Identity Malta employee accused of embezzling agency funds had offered to refund €20,000 provided his superiors did not report the matter to the police.

A senior Identity Malta official today testified how agency suspicions about passport office employee Joseph Calleja were aroused after a number of money bags meant to have been deposited with the bank were unaccounted for.

Mr Calleja, 60 and from Mosta, faces charges of misappropriation, fraud as well as the falsification of documents or the use of false documents.

Mr Calleja allegedly pulled out a money bag from his lunchbox, another from the desk and some more money from his pockets.

Martin Bowerman told a court how Mr Calleja had told his superiors, when confronted via e-mail, that he was trying to settle matters clients who had presented invalid cheques.

The missing funds were deposited by the end of that month, but the same problem recurred the following one. When Mr Calleja did not reply to an e-mail, his superiors demanded an explanation in person.

When asked about the missing funds, Mr Calleja allegedly pulled out a money bag from his lunchbox, another from the desk and some more money from his pockets. Those sums were counted, sealed and handed over to the police. 

He later offered to pay back €20,000 provided that police were not called in, Mr Bowerman told the court.

Mr Calljea reportedly confessed to having somehow misplaced three deposit bags full of money. Fearing the consequences of a confession, he had decided to take matters into his own hands to redress the balance, delaying the deposit of bags at the bank.

In court, it was explained that the number of passports issued tallied with the money collected. The relative documentation was also in order. However, the figures with the bank did not tally since some bags were not deposited immediately.

The court was told that as at the end of June, Identity Malta was €44,456 short.

The court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, heard the prosecution explain how according to standard operating procedure, all money bags collected at the end of the day were to be closed in the presence of two employees.

However, it appeared that this procedure was not being rigorously observed since colleagues trusted the accused with the task of closing the bags and carrying out the relative reconciliation exercise.

The case continues.

Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee prosecuted. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.