The man who last week admitted last week to his involvement in a passport-stamping scheme intended to illegally extend the stay of foreign residents on the island was on Thursday jailed for six months.
The court had heard how the accused had operated in tandem with a corrupt immigration officer who would stamp the passport of foreign residents to extend their stay in Malta in breach of local immigration regulations.
When delivering judgment, magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, observed that although the accused had registered an admission, the court could not pronounce guilt on all charges.
“It is certainly not for the court to seek to decipher what the prosecuting officer had in mind,” magistrate Frendo Dimech continued, adding that the court was clearing the accused of the first two charges which related to complicity in the falsification of Maltese passport stamps and the commission of a continuous offence.
Indeed, the prosecution “had worded the charges in a convoluted manner which lacked the clarity essential for ensuring that the accused could prepare his defence,” the court remarked.
The accused was, however, declared guilty of other breaches falling under the Immigration Act and the Passports Ordnance. The court observed that through such fraudulent and malicious behaviour, State security measures had been rendered useless and laws had been breached.
The immigration official involved in the scheme had also been charged and given a two-year jail term suspended for four years, in separate proceedings. The employee had even been suspended from work, with sources explaining that the illicit scheme might also cost the official her job.
Lawyer David Bonello was defence counsel to Mr Talevski.