A man was charged yesterday with defrauding two men out of an amount of cash by deceiving them with the claim that he was a project coordinator for the SmartCity project.

Police Inspector Angelo Gafa told Magistrate Silvio Meli that Martin Camilleri, 53, from Msida, had used the national project to deceive people.

Mr Camilleri was charged with defrauding Victor Ragonesi and Lawrence Sammut out of about Lm800. The inspector explained that Mr Camilleri had allegedly failed to pay Dr Ragonesi after he stayed at one of his hotels and he had not paid Mr Sammut for the cars he had rented.

He said Mr Camilleri told the two men that he was a project manager at the SmartCity project and even provided them with other false details. Mr Camilleri pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

Magistrate Meli granted Mr Camilleri bail against a personal guarantee of Lm1,000.