A man who stands accused of trying to import explosives from a seller on the dark web appears to have forged his father’s signature on a lease agreement for a Qormi showroom.

The falsification was scientifically confirmed by a court expert who presented a report on Thursday in the compilation of evidence against 34-year old Jomic Calleja, currently under preventive custody while facing prosecution for trying to import explosives.

In a previous sitting, prosecutors had told the court, presided by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, that investigators could be inching closer to discovering the identity of the intended victim.

The police had kicked off investigations following a tip-off by foreign security services about the intended consignment of the suspicious materials to a Maltese purchaser and had travelled to Arizona last summer.

Carmel Grech, the accused’s father, had denied under oath that the signature next to his identity card number on a lease agreement for a Qormi showroom was actually his.

“No, no, no,” the man had insisted when shown the document, even after being duly warned by the court about the dire consequences of lying under oath.

The man’s insistence had prompted the court to appoint an expert to analyze and compare the signatures of father and son.

The expert presented his report on Thursday, explaining that Carmel Grech’s specimen signature “did not match” that on the lease agreement, but that the calligraphy matched the accused’s own handwriting, as shown when signing his declaration, refusing legal assistance following his arrest.

“There are positive characteristic matches to his handwriting,” the expert said, adding that “therefore the signature on the document was not written by Charles Grech, but by the accused.”

The case continues in July.

Superintendent George Cremona and Inspector Omar Zammit are prosecuting.

Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia is defence counsel