Fourteen men were charged today with complicity, corruption and theft of electricity after they failed to regularise their position with the utilities corporation. All of the accused are Enemalta customers. The fourteen were accused of stealing a combined €92,662 in energy.

Michael Darmanin was charged with stealing €15,553 through a slow meter installed at the Old City Pub in Vittoriosa.

Robert Busuttill was charged with stealing €17,156 using a meter at the Evergreen grocer in Floriana. Gordon Micallef was charged with stealing €10,956 at the Gordon Discount Store in Qormi.

Sonia Cilia La Corte, who is the former wife of Martin Cilia La Corte, one of the middlemen arraigned for his part in the smart meter scandal, had a tampered smart meter at her home in Marsascala. She was accused of stealing €495 in electricity.

Redent Zammit was accused of stealing €3,791 at Love Pizza in Fgura. Louis Attard was charged with stealing €845 through a tampered meter at his Mosta home.

Jonathan Compagno was charged with stealing €7,316 in electricity from Compagno Confectionery in Fgura. Josef Cassar was charged with stealing €144 from his Marsa warehouse. Joseph Gauci was charged with stealing €19,849 from his shop in Main Street, Dingli. Francis Xuereb was charged with stealing €470 from his Santa Venera home.

Mario Cassar was charged with stealing €4,752 and €2,174 from Wasp Butcher in Fgura and his home, also in Fgura. Lewis Caruana was charged with €3,274 from his Zurrieq Rabbit farm. Matthew Dimech was charged with stealing €5,649 at the Cafe du Brasil in Vittoriosa.

Alan Cachia was the only one to admit the charges. He was accused of stealing €268 in electricity. Magistrate Carol Peralta handed him a two-year jail term suspended for two years and a general interdiction. He was also ordered to pay back the stolen amount within six months.

Some 100 people are being investigated in the meter tampering scandal, including Enemalta employees. This was the first time that consumers have been arraigned. The utility corporation has so far suspended 12 technicians, some of which have been arraigned.

A court had previously heard how three Enemalta technicians had been paid u to €19,000 by just ten customers to rig their smart meters to register lower consumption.

The government had given consumers a six-week period to come forward and admit to buying tampered meters. In June the Energy Ministry said that around 400 people had regularised their position. They were expected to pay back €10 million to Enemalta.

Lawyers Stephen Tonna Lowell, Shazoo Ghaznavi, Franco Galea, Patrick Valentino, Charmaine Cherrett, Kris Busietta, Edward Gatt, Daniela Mangion and Lucio Sciriha appeared for the consumers.

Dr Franco Debono and Dr Angie Muscat appeared parte civile for Enemalta.