Jailed for 15 months for insurance fraud

A man who got a friend to set fire to his boat to collect insurance money was yesterday jailed for 15 months.

Joseph Muscat, 34, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and perjury in August 2000.

Magistrate Noel Cuschieri heard Muscat explain he was having trouble with his girlfriend and hoped that he could use the money to put a deposit on a house so they could get back together.

He noted that Muscat had however committed the crime during a term of conditional release granted him after he had committed the same crime of insurance fraud.

Magistrate Cuschieri also sentenced Muscat to a general interdiction of five years.