Ex-Air Malta pilot claims signature ‘falsified’ on €1.1m settlement agreement

An ex-Air Malta pilot has claimed his signature was “falsified” on a €1.1 million settlement agreement with the airline.

In a judicial protest, pilot Ryan Xuereb claimed Air Malta, which has been replaced by KM Malta Airlines, presented the “falsified” settlement agreement as evidence in two cases he opened before the Ombudsman and court.

This resulted in both the Ombudsman and the court being misled by the “falsified” document and dismissing his claims for compensation, the former pilot said.

Xuereb had claimed in a complaint to the Ombudsman that he was due compensation after being discriminated against by Air Malta when he surrendered his pilot’s license in 2015 on medical grounds.

He remained employed with the airline until 2020, before being made redundant.

Xuereb alleges that other less senior pilots who also stopped flying on medical grounds were given alternative employment.

To rebut the claims, Air Malta presented the allegedly falsified agreement, which states Xuereb was given a €1.1 million settlement and waived the right to bring any further claims against the airline.

Xuereb, however, alleges in the judicial protest that this was a “lie”, as the agreement had been “falsified” and he never received a single penny from the €1.1 million mentioned in the contract.

The former pilot said a calligraphy expert he hired confirmed “without a doubt” that the signature on the settlement agreement was not his.  

This expert, Xuereb said, is frequently used by the courts in inquiries and other criminal cases.

A criminal complaint about the “falsified” document has been presented to the police, together with a demand that a magisterial inquiry be opened, Xuereb said.

The former pilot warned that if his demands for compensation are not met, he will pursue both criminal and civil cases.

The judicial protest was signed by lawyers Jean Paul Sammut and Jason Azzopardi.