A man working with a cashier accomplice would load up a trolley full of items in an Għaxaq supermarket and then pay just 30c for it all, a court heard on Monday.
The two allegedly cheated the store out of more than €1000, repeating the scam several times before shop owners’ suspicions were raised.
CCTV footage eventually led them to the male customer, who would always queue up at the till of the same cashier. She would then punch in a mere 30c or so for purchases worth some €300, prosecutors allege.
Vincenzo Maniscalco, a 39-year old driver for a local construction firm, from St Paul’s Bay and Raffaella Recchia, a 36-year old cashier, from Marsascala, both Italian-born, were jointly arraigned and charged with having robbed the Għaxaq store, part of a chain of supermarkets, through fraudulent means.
Mr Maniscalo alone was charged with having aided or spurred on his co-accused to commit the alleged wrongdoing, while Ms Recchia was separately charged with misappropriation.
Ms Recchia pleaded guilty, while her co-accused filed a not guilty plea.
Lawyer David Gatt, representing Ms Recchia, started off by requesting the separation of proceedings against the two and said that his client was willing to pay her half share of the amount taken, namely €1153.
The accused’s father, present in the courtroom, stepped forward, handing over €576.50 in cash to the lawyer, who in turn handed it over to the prosecution. The money was placed inside a sealed envelope for it to be returned to its lawful owner.
Taking note of the woman’s clean criminal record, her admission and cooperation with the police, as well as the fact that she had paid her share, presiding magistrate Charmaine Galea declared her guilty and conditionally discharged her for 2 years.
Turning to Mr Maniscalco, the court observed that the prosecution was not objecting to bail, so long as stringent conditions were imposed.
Defence lawyer Noel Cutajar pointed out that his client’s wife was about to give birth and besides, the man had a clean criminal record.
After hearing submissions, the court granted bail against a deposit of €1,000, a personal guarantee of €2,000 and an order to sign the bail book twice a week.
Inspector Roderick Attard prosecuted.