Two men charged alongside Silvio Grixti over the disability benefits racket never had their driving licence suspended and Transport Malta letters stating otherwise were proven to be forged, a court was told on Monday.
One of those letters referenced Luke Saliba, who together with Roger Agius, Emmanuel Spagnol and Dustin Caruana, allegedly acted as agents or go-betweens in the massive fraudulent scheme that prosecutors claim involved the former PL MP in a key role.
Hundreds of beneficiaries unjustly received monthly social benefits after being falsely certified as suffering from severe disabilities.
People suffering from such disabilities would forfeit their driving licences.
However, when proceedings resumed on Monday, a TM official confirmed that licences issued to Saliba and Agius “always remained valid”.
Presenting official TM documentation, Kenneth Pace, manager of the driving section, testified that there had been no change in the status of both defendants’ licences.
Deputy chief officer at the transport watchdog, Gilbert Agius, also testified today.
When shown a letter purportedly issued under his signature as “Gilbert Agius senior manager”, the witness unequivocally stated that that signature was forged.
That letter was meant to be an official document declaring that the driving licence of Luke Saliba had been withdrawn.
Both the signature of the official in whose name that letter was issued and the wording used in the text clearly showed that the whole document was false, Agius said.
In the first place, the letter referenced him as a “senior manager” when at the time he was a director.
The wording was also not the kind used by Transport Malta.
“I can confirm that we never issued such a letter,” said Agius, explaining that the signature, name and surname- purportedly his own- had been lifted off another document that was unrelated to the content of this letter.
Asked by defence lawyer Matthew Xuereb whether TM had conducted any internal investigation to find out whether such information could have been leaked from its servers, the witness replied in the negative.
The case, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, continues.