Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/565097
4 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 SEptEmbEr 2015 News Libyan food importation company director admits using fake documents 45-year-old Nureddin mohamed A. Shaibi was charged with making a false declaration to a public authority, conspiracy to commit a crime and knowingly making use of falsified documents Matthew agius A 45-year-old Libyan man from Tripoli, director of a company au- dited by Joe Sammut, has pleaded guilty to using false documents to import foodstuffs. Magistrate Antonio Vella heard Police Inspector Raymond Aqui- lina charge 45-year-old Nureddin Mohamed A. Shaibi with making a false declaration to a public author- ity, conspiracy to commit a crime and knowingly making use of falsi- fied documents. Inspector Aquilina explained that imports of food items from Libya have to be authorised by the health department. However in this case, he did not present this document, handing in instead a document is- sued in Libya. Shaibi's lawyers, Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili, entered a plea of guilty on behalf of the accused. Dalli pointed out that the accused has been doing business with Mal- ta for over ten years and that this was the first time that he had en- countered a problem, which had been caused by the fact that he had presented the Libyan document. He has registered a company here and owns property in Malta. In view of his guilty plea, the court sentenced the Libyan to two years' imprisonment, suspended for four. Sources close to the case told MaltaToday that Shaibi's San Gwann-registered company, Ma- yar International Ltd, which trades in food items, had been reported to the police by Bank of Valletta em- ployees after it was flagged as hav- ing been audited by Joe Sammut. Sammut is currently being inves- tigated by the police in connection with allegations that he organised the setting up of non-trading com- panies in Malta to facilitate Libyan businessmen in obtaining residen- cy permits here. Joe Sammut was this month arraigned in court over money laundering, fraud and misappropriation involving Libyan companies Five months' jail for Parliament trespassers Matthew agius A magistrate has jailed two men who sneaked into a restricted area under the new Parliament building last month, finding them guilty of the charge of trespass- ing, but not of theft or relapsing. Eman Zammit, 36, and Clay- ton Fava, 28, were arrested last month after they were discovered in tunnels leading to Parliament. The pair had claimed to be shel- tering from the freak rainstorm that had lashed the islands that day, but were charged with en- tering a restricted area, stealing tools and relapsing. Magistrate Joe Mifsud yesterday cleared the men of the theft and relapsing charges, noting that with regard to the former charge, he had not been shown any evidence to sup- port the allegation that the men had intended or attempted to steal tools that had been stored in the tunnel. The court also found the men not guilty of the charge of recidi- vism, due to the fact that no orig- inal copies of any prior convic- tions had been submitted by the prosecution, in spite of the fact that the accused men had both been found guilty by the courts in the past – Zammit 15 times and Fava eight. The men were sentenced to five months' imprisonment and placed under a supervision order for four years. In his sentence, Magistrate Mifsud made recom- mendations for changes to secu- rity arrangements to the build- ing. Lawyers Franco Galea and Mat- thew Bondin appeared for the men. Court recommended that security around and inside Parliament should be tightened Eman Zammit, 36, and Clayton Fava, 28, were arrested last month after they were discovered in tunnels leading to parliament Chamber of Commerce denounces 'knee-jerk' traffic proposals Continued froM Page 1 "This means that he will have to wake up as early as 4am, and it is simply far more convenient for his par- ents to drive him to school. A free public transport pass could solve this problem." The White Paper also propos- es supervision on board school transport as a means of clamp- ing down on school bus bullying. However, the MUT has warned that it will adamantly condemn forcing teachers to supervise stu- dents on buses, with the exception of transport for disabled children that is already in force. "A free public transport pass could solve the school bus bul- lying problem, via surveillance by other passengers," Bonello ar- gued. While the White Paper only rec- ommends a subsidised bus pass for secondary school students, Bonello thinks that it should be extended to include post-second- ary and tertiary students. "A free bus pass will encourage tertiary students to catch a bus to school, rather than use their cars, therefore reducing traffic conges- tion and solving the university's notorious parking problem. "The subsidisation of tertiary students is not an alien concept, and they already receive sti- pends and student grants, so why shouldn't they also receive free bus passes?" The Malta Chamber of Com- merce dismissed the White Paper as a "knee-jerk reaction" to Malta's traffic problem, specifically high- lighting its proposal that heavy vehicles should not coincide with the heavy morning traffic time. "The lifeline of Malta's business community deserves more than one line in a 14-page document," the Chamber said in a statement. "The problem of traffic congestion will not be solved by passing the parcel from one sector to the oth- er. Malta deserves a holistic plan for transportation which includes an efficient public transport sys- tem, a European road network and better observance of traffic laws by all involved, in order for traffic to f low more smoothy." Government is considering subsidising public transport for secondary school students 10-year-old child run over in Santa Venera A 10-year-old boy from Santa Venera was run over by a vehi- cle being driven by a 70-year- old man from Santa Venera. The man was driving a Volkswagen Polo. The accident took place at around 12:30 in Triq l-Imsida, and the boy was taken straight to Mater Dei for medical at- tention. His condition is not yet known. The police are still investi- gating the case.