Two Gozo Channel employees who were caught stealing money from their employer in 2015 and found guilty in court have been given back their jobs, the Times of Malta is informed.

Company sources said that Gozo Channel employees were “shocked” to learn suddenly last week that Raymond Borg, known as Ix-Xitan (the Devil), and George Zammit had returned to work.

“We had heard that the two employees caught stealing money by selling used tickets would never come back, because they had robbed their own employer. However, miracles do happen in Gozo, and they have now returned as if nothing happened,” an angry senior Gozo Channel official complained. 

READ: Attorney General disagrees with police over Gozo Channel thieves

A board member who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity said there was a lot of political pressure on the company to reinstate the two men, adding that one of them was a canvasser for Gozo Minister Anton Refalo. 

When contacted, a spokesman for Gozo Channel confirmed both men were given back their jobs. “It is true both Mr Borg and Mr Zammit were reinstated on the recommendation of a board of discipline presided over by Judge Michael Mallia,” the spokesman said.

Agreeing that the decision “may sound deplorable”, the spokesman said everything had been done in line with the collective agreement.

A number of conditions were imposed on the two employees, the spokesman said, including being demoted, sent to work in Malta and barred from handling any money on behalf of the company. Dr Refalo denied claims that his ministry had pressured the company to reinstate his canvasser.

The cases of Mr Borg and Mr Zammit go back to September 2015, when they were captured on CCTV selling used ferry tickets and keeping the money.

The two had pocketed €355 on the day they were caught stealing. They were immediately suspended from their jobs and taken to court, where they pleaded guilty to theft and committed to refunding the money.

In a decision which irked the police, Magistrate Joe Mifsud found them guilty and conditionally discharged them for a period of three years. The magistrate also recommended that Mr Borg and Mr Zammit should be reinstated, noting that a person who has made a mistake should still have “a window of opportunity”.

The police filed an application to appeal, insisting on a harsher sentence, but neither the Attorney General nor Gozo Channel appealed. In October 2013, Mr Borg ordered a Gozo Channel vessel back to the Ċirkewwa port halfway through its journey to collect Dr Refalo.

Although Dr Refalo initially said he had complained to the duty manager about the vessel leaving waiting passengers – including himself – stranded, he later admitted he had called his canvasser, Mr Borg, a junior official, who contacted the ship’s captain to inform him he had left the minister stranded in Malta.

The captain then sailed back so Dr Refalo could board.

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