Malta Prisoner Obtains Partial Pension Benefit
Today we have an interesting case out of Malta, where a prisoner is asserting that he is entitled to his full retirement pension benefits even though he is currently incarcerated in a prison.
The story starts in 2003 when a man by the name of Paul Hill attempted to murder Victor Testa by repeatedly beating him in the head with a wooden plank. Come August 2004, Mr. Hill was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeal reduced Mr. Hill’s sentence to 12 years imprisonment.
Prior to Mr. Hill’s imprisonment, he was an employee of Air Malta. In 2011, he turned 61, the age his retirement pension would vest. As such, while in prison, he applied for pension benefits.
While Mr. Hill’s pension application was accepted, a decision was made against him which stated that he would only receive half of his pension while in custody. This way his wife would be supported while he was in prison, and that upon his release from custody he would receive his full pension benefits.
The case becomes even more convoluted when the Social Security Department uncovered that Mr. Hill’s wife was already receiving an invalid pension. This resulted in an agreement being struck between the Social Security Department and Mr. Hill’s wife which stipulated that she was ineligible for half of Mr. Hill’s pension. Since she had already received 9,257 Euros of Mr. Hill’s pension, she agreed to reimburse the Social Security Department with 5 percent of each future payment, until the 9,257 Euros issued to her in error were paid back.
