A 32 year-old Maltese man has been found guilty of failing to make good on delivering a BMW car from the UK, resulting in the buyer, Joseph Spiteri, losing €17,750.

The accused handed down a suspended sentence, which would result in incarceration, should he fail to pay the full amount within one month.

The case began in December 2012, where the accused, Christian Saliba, had accepted a deposit from Mr Spiteri in return for purchasing a vehicle from the UK in his name.

The court heard how Mr Saliba was supposed to be purchasing a car for himself also, and suggested that when the vehicles were ready to be driven down to Malta, the pair would join in the UK and make the journey together.

The first vehicle shown to Mr Spiteri appeared to have dents in it, so the accused showed him a second car. Upon Mr Spiteri’s approval of the second car, he transferred the entire sum of €17,750 to a bank account belonging to the accused’s mother.

Mr Spiteri said that he was waiting for the accused to invite him up to the UK, so that they can drive the vehicles down together. Magistrate Doreen Clarke, presiding over the case, heard how the accused had made numerous excuses in order to justify delays. Mr Spiteri ultimately went to the residence of the accused, and found that he was not abroad but in Malta.

The accused told him that his car was in Sicily. Due to the number of inconsistencies, Mr Spiteri requested that Mr Saliba sign a document binding him to either give him the car or return the money in full. The accused made a request for payments to be made of €250 on a monthly basis. Mr Saliba rejected this and filed a police report.

After making all due considerations, Magistrate Clarke held that sending the accused to prison immediately would not get the victim his money back. She handed down the accused a sentence of two years suspended for four, and ordered him to pay the amount in full within a month.

Inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted.