Businesswoman cleared of fraud

A businesswoman charged with defrauding a man of almost €44,000 has been acquitted, three months after being given a suspended jail term for a similar crime.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke found 30-year-old Joanne Sciberras not guilty because the witnesses were not credible and, furthermore, the court was not convinced the accused had actually used fraudulent means to obtain the money from Emmanuel Vella.

Ms Sciberras admitted in court that she had borrowed €32,000 in cheques for a business deal but not the larger sum of almost €44,000, as claimed by Mr Vella.

One of the main witnesses, Maria Jenkins, had initially testified that she saw the accused receive about €12,000 in cash over and above the €32,000. However, she later changed her version saying she had been under pressure from Mr Vella.

Ms Sciberras consistently denied having been handed that extra €12,000.

Magistrate Clarke said she found none of the people involved to be credible witnesses. Even the investigating police inspector, Kevin Borg, had raised doubts about Mr Vella's allegations.

The court noted that, although Ms Sciberras had admitted to borrowing the money, there was no evidence to suggest there was any deceit involved. It therefore found her not guilty of fraud and ordered that Mr Vella and Ms Jenkins be investigated by the police over their testimony.

Ms Sciberras was given a 30 month jail term suspended for two years after in March after she had been found guilty of defrauding another business woman of almost €19,000 in 2006.