Former Malta Maritime Authority clerk Ivan Muscat had a two-year effective jail term suspended on appeal after a court agreed that his boss may have pressured him to "turn a blind eye" to forged certificates that led to the issue of over 400 nautical licences.

Mr Muscat, who was a clerk within the authority’s Small Ship’s Section, had originally been charged together with his boss John Farrugia who was the head of the section. Both were charged with their involvement in organised crime, accepting bribes and forging documents on and before June 2007.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla had said that Mr Farrugia told police how he became involved three years earlier and filled in about 400 false certificates. He processed applications for nautical licences by applicants who did not undergo the obligatory 15-day MCAST (Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology) course.

When Mr Muscat noticed what was going on, Mr Farrugia asked him to turn a blind eye and he did, according to the statements.

Mr Muscat was cleared of organised crime but found guilty of accepting bribes, defrauding MCAST and committing crimes when trusted as a public officer.

He appealed arguing that he was a clerk in an office and could not be deemed to be a public officer. Apart from that he was a victim of his boss as he did what he was told for fear of losing his job.

The Appeals Court, presided by Judge Michael Mallia, ruled that since Mr Muscat worked in a government entity he was a public official. The court agreed that he may have felt the pressure to do as his boss said but one could not ignored that he accepted Lm50 (€116) a month from his boss to close an eye.

The judge suspended the jail term and also upheld the request of the Attorney General to order his interdiction and to order the confiscation of money obtained illegally.