A Transport Malta official who had been given a suspended sentence and a general perpetual interdiction over the fabrication of a certificate of competency has been completely cleared on appeal.

The man was employed within the Traffic Vessel Monitoring Department since 2006, was targeted by criminal prosecution in August 2015 after a certificate issued in his name by the local authority was fabricated.

The whole saga started when a notification was received by Transport Malta from its UK counterpart, the Maritime Coast Guard Agency, which is tasked with regularly updating the logbooks of TM officials.

The UK Agency had flagged a number of irregularities in the scanned document received on behalf of the man, sparking off investigations by the local authorities which ultimately led to the bearer of the document to face charges of fabrication, forgery of government stamps and signature, as well as knowingly making use of such false document.

The official was declared guilty by a Magistrates’ Court in July 2017 and was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years, besides being condemned to a general perpetual interdiction.

As the case proceeded to appeal stage, the court delved into the evidence and testimonies including that of the accused himself who had declared under oath that he had never set eyes upon the document allegedly received by the UK Agency before he was shown a copy in court.

He had also pointed out that the document bore a scanned copy of his signature and a scanned personal photo.

While denying that he had completed the application or sent it to the UK Agency, the official explained how he had worked as VTS since 2006, held a licence by the local transport authority and a logbook issued by its UK counterpart.

In fact, in line with office rules, he used to send his logbook to the UK Agency for regular updating, attaching thereto the necessary medical certificates and placing his signature on such forms in ink.

He had also explained how back in 2015, shortly before the whole issue began, he had broken up with his girlfriend who still had access to his bank accounts and who was allegedly refusing to hand over some of his personal belongings, prompting him to file a police report in March of that same year.

On the basis of all evidence put forward, the court, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, observed that there were various irregularities showing that the document at issue was intrinsically false.

It was incorrectly stated to be a ‘Certificate of Competence’ rather than ‘Competency.’ It bore the wrong date, used the outdated term ‘Officer in Charge of a Navigation Watch’ (no longer shown on current certificates) and bore a multi-coloured stamp unlike that used by Transport Malta. The scanned signature over the stamp was alien and the applicant’s signature was not original but scanned.

The court observed that the prosecution had brought no evidence to prove that the fabrication had been committed by the appellant, nor any proof of some form of communication exchanged between the TM official and the UK Agency.

Nor was there any evidence to show how the suspicious document had reached the foreign agency, namely whether it was mailed, sent via email or handed over personally. The sender and recipient of the scanned document remained unknown.

Nor was the doctor, who had drawn up the medical certificate, ever summoned to confirm the identity of the applicant, namely the accused, the court observed.

On the basis of all evidence put forward the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove its case and thereby revoked the first judgment, clearing the accused of all charges.

This article has been amended following a data privacy request. For more information, please contact editor@timesofmalta.com, citing the article URL.

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