A 50-year-old from Floriana was found guilty yesterday of retaining money given to him by team members of Floriana FC that was supposed to be passed on to a travel agency, and was subsequently conditionally discharged for six months.

The court heard how Noel Scicluna retained a sum amounting to over Lm900, the property of BAS Ltd, a subsidiary of Cassar and Cooper Ltd.

Mr Scicluna spent some time working for a company named Gazelle Couriers and was also responsible for purchasing air tickets for Floriana FC members. He bought the tickets from Cassar and Cooper but did not pay on delivery, since the two parties enjoyed a degree of trust between them.

After buying Lm908 worth of air tickets, Mr Scicluna had to leave Malta for a long time and as a result, Cassar and Cooper failed to receive the money.

Upon his return Mr Scicluna was questioned by ex Inspector Kevin Ellul Bonici and he confirmed that he had bought the tickets from Cassar and Cooper and had received the money from Floriana FC.

He said that prior to leaving the island, he had left the money with a trusted person.

When he returned, he asked his father-in-law, Joseph Cassar, to pay Cassar and Cooper. The company lawyer wrote to Superintendent Daniel Gatt on 4 September 1993, pointing out that the amount due had been paid and that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding between Mr Scicluna and Floriana FC. He also said that Cassar and Cooper had asked for the case to be dropped.

The court said that the accused did receive money that was not to be kept by him and that he had left it with an unauthorised trustee.

The court also said that, in view of the fact that Cassar and Cooper said the case was the result of a misunderstanding, the time that had passed and that it was not Mr Scicluna’s fault, it would not be right to impose a heavy sentence, and therefore conditionally discharged Mr Scicluna for six months. Inspector Angelo Gafa’ prosecuted.