Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507984
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 WEDNESDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2023 • ISSUE 861 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL • PAGE 11 → direct Sign up today! My card, digital, global & free. 2557 4400 medirect.com.mt MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc, company registration number C34125, is licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority under the Banking Act (Cap. 371). Y-plate parking abuse Lobby group concerned over 'reckless behaviour' of some operators MATTHEW AGIUS THE name of Silvio Grixti, a former Labour MP and family doctor, came up in two separate benefits fraud cases heard in court on Tuesday. Collectively, the cases concern €53,000 in social benefits that were alleged to have been fraudulently claimed. Grixti was identified as the doctor who provided the forged medi- cal certificates that enabled the benefi- ciaries to claim benefits they were not eligible for. Prosecuting police Inspector Mi- chael Tabone told Magistrate Rachel Montebello that the first defendant, Josephine Spagnol, had fraudulently pocketed more than €25,000 in disa- bility benefits. On the witness stand, neurologist Ruth Galea was shown a certificate she had allegedly signed for a patient named Josephine Spagnol. But the doctor said she had not issued the cer- tificate in question, and neither had she ever seen the defendant. "No, I did not issue the certificate," she said, after being shown the docu- ment. Asked what led her to say that, the neurologist specified "the way it is written, the use of capitals and bold, the sentence construction, and it con- tains abbreviations that I don't usually use in certificates." MATTHEW FARRUGIA ILLEGAL on-street parking of Y-plate vehicles is a "major concern" for the sector's lobby group that is urging for better enforcement of the rules. The Light Passengers Operators Association ex- pressed serious concerns on the "reckless behav- iour" of certain operators who are disregarding the law. The association was reacting to a series of stories that appeared in MaltaToday that highlighted the widespread abuse of Y-plate vehicles being parked on the street and in public areas. Disability benefits abuse: Former Labour MP's name crops up in two court cases PAGE 7 PAGE 3 PN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS OppositiOn leader Bernard Grech interviewed by One News' deputy editor Samuel Lucas at Triton Square PAGE 3