Former Air Malta pilot Ryan Xuereb has filed a judicial protest alleging the defunct airline of submitting a forged document bearing his signature in legal processes before both the Ombudsman and the Civil Court.
Xuereb asserts the airline employed the forged document to refute discrimination charges and unjust dismissal after his firing for redundancy in 2020. A statement declaring that Xuereb had paid all dues and had no more claims—a claim he vehemently disputes—was included in the disputed document.
Xuereb hired a court-recognized forensic handwriting expert to back up his claim, who determined the signature on the document was forged. With more than three decades of experience in criminal and magisterial investigations, the expert determined the signature was “clearly not Xuereb’s.”
Following being medically grounded in 2015 and license surrender, the pilot had previously reached a €1.18 million settlement with Air Malta in 2021. Still, he maintains the questioned document was never included in that agreement and accuses the airline of deliberately employing it to mislead the Ombudsman and the courts.
Xuereb holds Air Malta accountable in his judicial protest, submitted in July 2025, for the claimed fraud and its results, including reputational and economic damage. He also points out the document was cited in the airline’s May 2023 response to a legal letter from his representatives, in which the airline restated its belief all claims had been resolved.
Xuereb has submitted a criminal complaint with the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) and begged the Police Commissioner to start a magisterial investigation of the case.
Though Air Malta stopped flying as part of a government restructuring that produced KM Malta Airlines, Xuereb’s protest demands accountability for the former company.
Attorneys Jean Paul Azzopardi and Jason Azzopardi are representing him.
