The plan of two men to steal cheques from one of their employers and subsequently cash them against his forged signature landed them with a suspended sentence each after they admitted to their wrongdoing in open court.

Czech-born Daniel Malhous, 21, unemployed, was arraigned this afternoon alongside his partner in crime Jaroslav Starjat, a 27-year old Slovak national, the two being charged with forgery of the bank cheques and the use of such false documents.

Starjat was separately charged with stealing the two cheques from his employer, a local estate agency. After forging the signature of the manager, the pair attempted to cash the cheques at a local bank.

However, the signature reportedly aroused the suspicions of the bank officials who alerted the victim, who in turn called in the police. The two suspects were tracked down and brought to justice.

During Thursday’s arraignment, both men pleaded guilty, confirming their plea after being warned by duty magistrate Charmaine Galea that the charges carried a potential maximum effective jail term of four years.

The court condemned Mr Malhous to an 18-month jail term suspended for four years, while Mr Starjat was given a two-year jail term suspended for four years.

Inspector Roderick Spiteri prosecuted. Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was legal aid counsel.