Two companies suffer €15,000 fraud

A man who falsely told two companies that he had won a state tender to supply water heaters and then defrauded them of €15,000 was given a suspended jail term today.

Anthony Bezzina, 49 had in 2001, told Falzon Trading limited and Master Electric Co. Limited that he won a tender for the supply of water heaters that needed to be installed in schools and social housing estates. The tenders, he told them, had been issued by the Department of Education and the Housing Authority.

The two companies had supplied the goods on credit to Mr Bezzina but they never received payment for them except for a one off €466 paid to Master Electric Co. Limited.

Mr Bezzina had released a statement to the police in 2002 where he also insisted that he had won the tender. He had told the police that he would give them the necessary documents, but he never turned up.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said that it was evident that the companies had given such a large amount of stock to the accused because he had lied to them and as a result the companies had suffered losses.

After taking into consideration Mr Bezzina’s criminal record which showed it was not the first time he had broken the law the court still felt that the case did not merit a jail term and jailed him for two years suspended for four.