A policeman who was suspended from the Police Corp, was sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended for four years after admitting that he used to take money to withdraw fines.

Ian Grech, 27, of Marsascala was also fined €670 and found guilty of relapsing.

The prosecution presented footage which former Police Commissioner John Rizzo had received and proceeded to take action when in May 2011, a certain Paul Bonavia filed a report that the policeman was intimidating his brother and asking him for payment o that he withdraws a fine after he had driven a tractor in Zabbar.

Paul Bonavia testified in court that he had heard a phone call between the policeman and his brother Jimmy Bonavia and the policeman had asked him for €200. Jimmy Bonavia had given Grech €700 in total.

When Mr Rizzo was informed of the case, he gave instructions for a CCTV camera to be installed opposite Mr Bonavia’s house and they then asked the policeman to collect the third payment for the fine to be withdrawn. They gave him four, €50 notes marked on the side of the serial number.

Grech had three of the four notes when he was arrested.  

Jimmy Bonavia was stopped because he was driving his tractor without an insurance policy and had pleaded with the policeman to have mercy with him and not give him the fine. He later received a phone call from the depot to take his logbook urgently. After meeting the policeman, Mr Bonavia asked whether he could give him some money for the fine to be withdrawn and the policeman requested €700.

Bonavia gave him all the money in his wallet, the policeman took €150 and gave him back €15. The witness had also gone to a BOV ATM and withdrew €700 but gave the policeman another €500.

The latter gave the witness a telephone number so that he could contact him if necessary. He had signed this paper as J. Micallef.

Sometime later, a policeman phoned him from the deport requesting another €200 and Bonavia replied he was to give him such a sum.

When later he was asked to go to the depot as part of the investigations, he had recognised Ian Grech from the footage as the person whom he had given the money to.

Prosecution was led by inspectors Anthony Cassar and Marisa Camilleri