Monday, 12th January 2009 - 13:32CET

Hawker accused of €873,491 fraud

Glenn Debattista, 49, a Valletta hawker, this morning pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding Michael Debono Ltd of €873,491 in August of 2003 when he purchased 55 Toyota vehicles and nine Perodua vans.

The court heard the prosecution claim that Mr Debattista had pretended to be Raymond Cortis and had thus signed the vehicle contracts. The accused had bought a car rental company from Mr Cortis but the permit for the company to continue to rent out cars had not yet been transferred.

Mr Debattista, however, had gone ahead with buying the vehicles in Mr Cortis’s name and had used a copy of his ID card.

Mr Debattista was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €50,000.

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Comments

Reno Spiteri (on 13/1/09)

When one reads something like this the mind simply boggles.
A person goes to a reputable car dealer, orders a total of 64 vehicles to the tune of Eur873,491 (LM374,990), hands in just a photo copy of an ID card which is not his, signs the purchase contracts in the name of someone else and the dealer accepts all this and orders the vehicles for him. Unbeleivable!!!!!.
What about the deposit on such an order? What about bank references? Was the copy of the ID card without a clear photo of the individual? Was this person not known to them previously?

Maria Cardona (on 13/1/09)

ID cards have a photo of the holder on them. So wasn't it obvious (even on a photocopy) that the man was not who he was portraying to be??

Helen McAleer (on 12/1/09)

Shouldn't the purchase of 55 cars and 9 vans by one individual dictate that you get more than a copy of this man's ID card????????

Tony Bonello (on 12/1/09)

@ Ronnie Gauci When the court gives bail the system works out like this Passport will be restricted and a permit will be issued every time the accused wants to leave the island, this can be not granted by the AG office. The personal guarantee will be made payable if the accused does not abide with the court orders. Some bail orders will also include a payable sum usually its half the personal guarantee.

David Falzon (on 12/1/09)

@ Ronnie Gauci,

The 873,419Euros are the total vehicle costs and not cash
Bail is payed to the courts in various ways. passports are confiscated and he have to sign everyday at a police station as these are court details

J Oatmon (on 12/1/09)

What exactly is this 'presonal guarantee' - I mean many of these people get to be convicted of fraud, so signing any piece of paper is nothing at all, and utterly worthless when push comes to shove.
Do they have to surrender their passports, and title deeds to something of real value, or just sign a paper?

Why are they not asked to put the money in escrow with the court - if they can guarantee it they can pay it right!

Ronnie Gauci (on 12/1/09)

€50,000 bail?? So if he leaves the country he'll still be left with €823,491 in his pockets. That's a deterrent!?! It's nice to see how our Court looks after one's investments.