Martime Authority clerk jailed for bribery has sentence amended on appeal

The Court of Crimimal Appeal has altered the sentence imposed on Ivan Muscat, a former clerk at the Malta Maritime Authority who had been found guilty of accepting bribes at the Malta Maritime Authority last year.

39-year-old Muscat, of Zurrieq, had been jailed for two years in February 2014 by Magistrate Audrey Demicoli after he was found guilty of receiving kickbacks in return for the issuing of mariners’ licences, part of a larger bribery scandal involving the former head of the Small Ships Licensing section of Transport Malta. 

The scandal came to light after large discrepancies between the number of people attending the licensing course and sitting for the test, and the actual number of licence holders were noticed. The discovery had led to a comprehensive internal audit at the authority.

Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon held that, in view of the fact the Muscat was a first time offender with a clean police conduct, the two-year effective jail term imposed on him was excessive, converting it to a three-year suspended sentence.

The judge however confirmed Muscat’s perpetual general interdiction