REVEALED: Transport Malta officials at centre of maritime fines corruption racket

Senior Transport Malta officials are at the centre of a corruption racket in which they allegedly drop maritime fines after pocketing money from boaters. 

Several sources within the transport authority who were granted anonymity to speak about internal matters, told MaltaToday at least three officials within the Maritime Enforcement Unit (MEU) have been tampering with maritime fines. 

The names of the officials implicated in this racket are known to this newspaper but are being withheld for the time being. 

The sources said that employees within the MEU have been pressured to “erase” certain fines issued to boaters for various maritime infringements. 

The manual system by which maritime fines are issued easily lends itself to abuse. Unlike fines for land vehicles, when an official fines an offender at sea, the sole hand-written document is kept by the official. The process is then completed at the office by officials tasked to notify offenders by post. 

The Maritime Enforcement Unit’s fine seen here is filled out by the officials and passed on to the unit’s management, leaving the offender with no copy

Some of the infringement proceedings make their way to court. It is here, the sources said that a top official within the MEU often approaches the defendants before they enter the courtroom and asks for a bribe that is significantly lower than the minimum fine they would otherwise incur.  

The sources said offenders facing fines of more than €2,000 and a possible temporary revocation of their maritime licence would get off by simply paying €150 to the official without the need to appear before the magistrate. 

Two-thirds of fines issued in 2021 were ‘lost” 

In another case of suspected abuse, the sources said that in 2021, a top TM official informed his employees that several fines issued by the MEU in that year had been “lost.” 

MaltaToday is informed that this official no longer occupies his post and was a person of interest in a separate case involving the purchase of unseaworthy RHIBS for the enforcement unit. 

This newspaper has seen data from TM which shows that at least 59% of maritime fines issued in 2021 were marked as ‘lost’, meaning that hundreds of thousands of euros in fines were never collected.  

The sources said that a water sports company from the north of Malta is among the MEU’s most frequent offenders, yet in 2021 it does not feature once in the list of fines that were actually issued, implying that this company was a significant beneficiary from the incident. MaltaToday has seen a copy of one of the ‘lost’ fines, which belongs to an employee of this company. 

Fines never posted 

In a third incident suggesting abuse, the sources said several fines issued by the MEU in 2022 and 2023 were never sent to the offenders by post within the timeframe stipulated at law. This means the fines became time-barred and so left unpaid. 

But the sources said one of the managers within the MEU has often pressured enforcement officials to drop fines issued to certain individuals, including relatives. This individual would also, regularly amend the charges by pen just before entering the court room so that the offender is liable to a reduced fine. 

Despite the enforcement unit having knowledge of this pressure, no action has ever been taken against this manager.  

MaltaToday understands that the police are investigating the claims that officials have been pressured to lie under oath by this manager but the sources have lamented what they believe is lethargy by investigators. 

MaltaToday understands that the police are investigating the claims that officials have been pressured to lie under oath by this manager but the sources have lamented what they believe is lethargy by investigators (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

“Despite the police given all the evidence necessary to carry out a proper investigation to my knowledge they have not called upon the necessary witnesses to speak to them,” one of the sources told this newspaper. 

Last February, PN MPs Ivan Castillo, Darren Carabott and Mark Anthony Sammut said that they have evidence of TM employees being told to lie under oath and to meddle with fines. 

It was after the MPs raised the issue, the sources added, that the police “seem to have panicked” and started calling in a number of employees for questioning. 

Transport Malta probe found no evidence 

Responding to questions from this newspaper, TM said that an internal investigation found no tampering with fines. It is unclear who carried out the internal investigation. 

However, the authority gave no explanation on the 2021 incident in which 59% of fines issued that year ended up ‘lost’. 

Transport Malta (James Bianchi/mediatoday)

“An internal Board of Inquiry has concluded that there was no evidence of tampering of fines. Nonetheless, Transport Malta is fully collaborating with the Malta Police in their independent and distinct investigation,” a TM spokesperson said. 

While making it clear that the authority does not take these allegations lightly, it stated its commitment, “to fully collaborate with the law enforcement authorities in such instances.”    

With regards to the ease with which maritime fines can be tampered with, erased or ‘lost’, TM said that it is “committed” to digitalise its services, and that, “plans are currently underway to install a digital citation issuance platform.”