A driving examiner who was implicated in the bribery scandal that rocked the transport watchdog in 2006 has been handed a suspended sentence and a general interdiction following a plea bargaining agreement with the Attorney General’s office.

Nicolai Magrin, a 40-year-old man from Sliema, admitted to accepting bribes in exchange for driving licenses more than nine years after his arraignment.

The crime was committed when he served as a driving examiner for Transport Malta, formerly the ADT.

Mr Magrin admitted to accepting bribes to give a pass mark to applicants doing driving tests in and before April 2006.

When the case continued being heard before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the court was informed about an agreement that had been reached with the Attorney General’s office following a plea bargaining exercise.

The magistrate sentenced Mr Magrin to a two-year jail term suspended for four years. He was also given a 10-year general interdiction.

Inspector Jonathan Ferris prosecuted.

In October 2006, a 21-year-old from Marsaxlokk was placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to bribing Mr Magrin.

Also later that month, a woman whose name cannot be mentioned by court order, was given a conditional discharge for a year after she too was found guilty of bribing the examiner.

The 21-year-old had told the court that he had attended driving lessons for over a year and had sat for the driving test seven times, failing on every occasion. The lessons had cost him over €2,300.

“It was the person who was giving him driving lessons who suggested that if he paid just Lm50 (€116) to the person carrying out the test, he would pass and that’s what happened,” his defence lawyer had said.