Vincent Etienne Vella, a 43-year-old accounts clerk, initially sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined €95,000 for misappropriating €345,000 from his employer, has had his sentence reduced on appeal. In the new ruling, he will serve five years in prison and pay a fine of €55,000.
The case dates back to 2009 when the company director received a suspension order related to unpaid taxes and internet services from the gaming authority. During this time, the director discovered two transactions under unknown names, and Vella claimed it was a bank error. Subsequently, Vella resigned from his position via email. The company later realized that €345,000 was missing and reported the matter to the police.
Vella appealed his initial sentence, which included charges of misappropriation and money laundering. In the Court of Appeal, Judge Neville Camilleri upheld Vella’s guilt and noted that Vella had used his father’s account to conceal his actions from the company’s accountants during verification.
However, Judge Camilleri considered factors such as Vella’s age at the time of the crime, the lengthy period from the offense in 2009 to the pending case in December 2016, and Vella’s otherwise good conduct. As a result, the Court of Appeal reduced both his prison sentence and fine.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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