A Maltese man who bought $32 million of Christchurch (New Zealand) property he could not pay for also could not afford to buy petrol, a court has been told.

Martin Vella, 45, was yesterday ordered to pay $940 reparation by Christchurch District Court Judge Christopher Somerville for petrol he paid for with cheques that bounced.

Vella admitted a charge of using a document for pecuniary advantage.

Police told the court that Vella bought petrol repeatedly from a BP outlet using cheques for an account he knew had insufficient funds.

Vella had told police he did not mean to hurt anyone and always meant to pay the money back.

Vella, who left Malta about three years ago claiming to be an oil dealer from Geneva, was earlier held in custody overnight after being unable to give a home address.