Olaf Cini was yesterday jailed for a year after a magistrate found him guilty of defrauding a woman of Lm9,000 when he convinced her he was a wealthy man, of Greek descent, who wanted to open a travel agency bearing her name.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti heard that when Angela Hathaway got to know Mr Cini he introduced himself as Stafan Stiliatis, whose father was Greek and mother was "a Casapinta Moroni Viani".

He told her he lived in a penthouse in Sliema, drove a BMW and worked as a marketing executive with a prestigious company based at Portomaso.

He convinced her he was going to open a travel agency for her and would call it Angela Sky Tours - for which he needed to borrow Lm9,000. She gave him the money.

But as time passed, and the travel agency was never opened, she asked for her money back. She then filed a police report and, following investigations, she learnt that Mr Stiliatis was really Mr Cini.

On handing down judgement, Magistrate Grixti noted that Mr Cini, 46, had been convicted five times for fraud. He deserved a jail term.

Police Inspector Angelo Gafà prosecuted.