A crew member of a French-flagged cruise liner, from Mauritius, has been found guilty of emptying out a ship’s safe making off with over €100,000 in cash. As part of his conviction, the young man has banned from entering all Schengen countries for five years.
The theft took place in the night between May 9 and 10 when the bundles of cash in euros and US dollars went missing from the safe on board the vessel that was berthed at a Cospicua shipyard, Malta.
Investigations led to the arrest of Adesh Sahye, a 33-year-old restaurant manager from Mauritius who was escorted to court on Friday, to face prosecution for the theft that was aggravated by means, amount, person, place and time.
According to the Times of Malta, the sum stolen to the detriment of fellow crew members amounted to €103,739.15 (Rs5.1 million).
After consulting a legal aid lawyer, the accused registered an admission which he confirmed after being granted sufficient time to reconsider.
The accused had cleaned out the safe and booked a flight out of Malta, the court was told.
Sahye eventually admitted to the theft, which he committed by emptying out the safe. He had also booked a flight out Malta.
His lawyers argued for a lenient sentence given that all the money had been returned and the accused had cooperated throughout the investigation.
The prosecutor, however, reportedly emphasised the amount stolen and the fact that the theft involved a break-in and requested a ban on the accused entering Malta or any other European country.
After hearing submissions the court, presided over by Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, declared the Mauritian crew member guilty on admission and condemned him to a two-year jail term suspended for 4 years.
The court also banned the accused from travelling to any Schengen territory over the next five years.
Source: Times of Malta
