The captain of a Royal Danish Navy ship has been sentenced to 60 days in prison by a Roskilde court for using a credit card provided by the Danish Defence at Stiletto Gentlemen’s Club in Paceville, according to Danish media.

Pleading not guilty before the court, the commanding officer, Per Moll Petersen, claimed that the credit card had probably been used by someone else but that he had not felt comfortable filing a police report  as there was “much more corruption in Malta.”

According to court proceedings, HDMS Absalon was sent to the Mediterranean in 2016 as part of an operation countering terrorism. On the evening of 23 November, the ship docked in Valletta with approximately 20 to 25 officers going out for dinner and later heading to Paceville. Ending up at Stiletto Gentlemen’s Club, two payments and two withdrawals were made on the credit card issued to the commanding officer by the Danish armed forces. The total amount €1,791.42.

Speaking in court, Peterson claimed to have forgotten on what the money had been spent, but said that someone must have picked up his PIN number. Five days after visiting the strip club, however, the captain chose to contact the card issuer dispute the charges, along with other charges on his own personal credit card, which amounted to €3,340.70. He denied the money had been spent on “expensive things” or that there had been champagne on the table.

The captain was charged with misconduct, attempted fraud, providing false information and for negligence. His sentence was suspended for a year.