A man was arrested on Sunday after police officers found a sealed envelope containing two Bangladeshi passports inside a cabinet at his residence.
The man was arrested by immigration officers carrying out checks at a Pieta residence where the 39-year-old Bangladeshi national lives.
While inspecting the occupants’ documents, police noticed the accused acting “rather strangely” as he closed a cabinet door inside his bedroom, the police told court on Monday.
Closer inspection led to the discovery of a sealed envelope containing two Bangladeshi passports belonging to third parties who were currently still living in the accused’s homeland, explained prosecuting Inspector Frankie Sammut.
The man told police that he was meant to hand over those documents to his boss so that he could apply for work permits and visas for the passport holders, who are also his friends.
The police informed him that possessing other people’s passports was illegal and that he would have to face criminal charges.
He was arrested and escorted to court on Monday afternoon, pleading guilty to the solitary breach of the Passports Ordinance.
He registered an admission which he confirmed after duly being granted time to reconsider, and after being warned by the court, presided over by magistrate Monica Vella, that the offence carried a possible jail term of two years.
The prosecutor told the court that the accused had fully cooperated throughout and there appeared to be a reasonable prospect that he might return to Bangladesh.
The man’s lawyer, Robert Galea, pointed out that the envelope was still sealed when found in the accused’s possession and was opened by police in his presence.
The man had no idea “of this very formal offence”, meaning that he had no clue that such fact amounted to an offence under Maltese law.
The accused had just been assisting his fellow nationals to obtain Maltese visas to settle here, said the lawyer.
In light of those submissions, the court condemned the accused to a two-year jail term suspended for two years.