A Russian traveller caught leaving Malta with slightly more than the allowed €10,000 was spared an administrative penalty by a court on Wednesday,

Andrey Prokopenko, a 56-year old St Petersburg resident, was stopped on Tuesday at Malta International Airport on his way to board a flight to Istanbul, after customs officials found him to be carrying an amount of dollars which slightly exceeded the statutory €10,000 maximum limit.

He was arrested and arraigned on Wednesday, refusing the assistance of a lawyer.

Standing before duty magistrate Francesco Depasquale, the man explained how the breach had not been intentional and that he had meant to declare the cash equivalent to €10,000 and use the rest at the duty-free mall.

However, his plan was thwarted when he was called to board his flight, never making it to the shops and thus proceeding to the customs control with the US$613 (€540) in extra cash.

The passenger subsequently missed his flight, ending up being arrested and marched to court where he was charged with falling foul of cash control regulations.

Upon the man’s admission, the court ordered the confiscation of the excess cash, with the €10,000 having been returned to the accused.

However, rather than impose the standard statutory 25 per cent fine on the total sum, the court made reference to article 21 of the Criminal Code which contemplated the possibility of the court imposing a punishment below the minimum prescribed by law.

Declaring that this case merited an application of this provision of law, the court freed the accused on condition of not committing another offence within the next year.