The mastermind of a scam which saw vehicles being VRT certified without being tested, has been jailed. 

Jesmond Pulis, 52, from Zabbar, owner of XTC VRT station had been accused of issuing certificates to car owners whose vehicles had not been tested. He was also accused of having employed workers without a valid contract as well as with being a relapser.

One of the employees, Steven Zerafa, 39, from Zabbar, was charged separately and admitted to having been a party to the scam.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia, heard how the two men had worked in tandem to issue VRT certificates for cars that were never tested.

The prosecution explained how the police had received a tipoff  and had discovered that Mr Zerafa was signing documents in his employer's name while the latter was on a 3-month trip to Thailand. The "assistant " would then make regular transfers of funds via a financial institution offer global payment services.

Out of some 100 certified vehicles, 20 had not even passed through the testing lane. 

The gravity of the whole affair acquired greater proportions in view of the current campaign promoting smarter vehicles for safer roads, the prosecution pointed out.

Although both men pleaded guilty to the charges, judgment against Mr Zerafa is to be delivered at a later stage after the preparation of a pre-sentencing report.

In respect of Mr Pulis, the court condemned him to a jail term of three years and a further two years for an earlier suspended sentence. The court also imposed a fine of €10,000 and ordered the revocation of his station's licence.

In 2010 Mr Pulis had been fined €550 by Transport Malta after a missing seal in the fuel flow adjustor was discovered during a post VRT inspection.

Lawyer Peter Paul Zammit was counsel to Mr Zerafa.

Mr Pulis handled his own defence.