Serial fraudster Duncan Buttigieg was in court again today on charges relating to fraud and misappropriation resulting in an effective six-year prison sentence being added on to his already lengthy list of convictions.
The case surrounds a series of reports regarding fraud and misappropriation, as well as theft and falsified cheques. He paid for a high value Rolex watch with a cheque which bounced, proceeding to sell it online; took a substantial amount of funds from a third party as a deposit for a vehicle that was meant to be imported from Japan, yet the vehicle was never delivered; forged a signature of a stolen cheque; stole a VAT receipt book; was found to be in possession of items in connection with fraud; made use of false documents; and relapsing.
Regarding the watch, police investigations which commenced in October revealed that Buttigieg used his former girlfriend’s chequebook, which he had stolen, to pay €5,000 for the Rolex. The cheque bounced. Just two hours later, Buttigieg sold the watch to Andrea Scicluna Calleja, telling him it was an unwanted gift and that he required the money for his six-year-old son who was being treated for stomach cancer. The two negotiated a €2,000 price, and Scicluna Calleja paid in cash. Shortly after, Scicluna Calleja found a receipt, and seeing it had been purchased only two hours earlier, he contacted Rolex’s agent managing director.
When the police raided Buttigieg's residence, they found falsified qualification certificates saying he was a journalist, when this was not true. The accused admitted to all the charges early on in the case, and from proof presented to the court, the Court found that there was absolutely no doubt of his guilt.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli found him guilty of all charges. The court said that the accused had ample opportunities to reform himself, “however it seems that the accused does not know how to make use of these opportunities, and in fact continued his criminal behaviour. While considering his guilty plea, the court finds no alternative but to impose an effective prison sentence, and not the minimum as requested by the Defence, but rather closer to the maximum penalty”.
He was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
This was not the first time Buttigieg was in court. He was found guilty on accusations of fraud and was sentenced to nine years imprisonment after admitting to defrauding 100 persons by taking deposits on a car he had to import amounting to €120,000, with the vehicles never arriving. He was also sentenced to two-years imprisonment for taking deposits from 12-persons on farmhouse rent, when the farmhouse did not belong to him. He was also given three-months probation for pretending to be a doctor, handing out prescriptions to two patients.