ID card fraudster now accused of cheating six shops

A master of disguise who managed to fool the police and the identity card department into giving her an ID card in someone else's name was back in court yesterday for defrauding six shops.

Mary Magdalena Sultana, 33, made the headlines early last month when she was convicted of having duped the authorities into issuing her with a fake ID card.

Ms Sultana, a woman with short and spiked, bleach-blond hair, yesterday admitted to issuing more than €5,200 worth of fraudulent cheques.

In the first case, she had disguised herself as a friend of hers by wearing a black wig and glasses and made a police report, posing as her friend, saying she had lost her identity card.

On the strength of that report, she obtained another card in her friend's name and then went on to get a loan from HSBC for €18,600 in her friend's name.

She was caught when she defaulted on loan repayments. She was arrested, arraigned and pleaded guilty to making a false declaration and defrauding a bank. The court handed down a two-year jail term suspended for four.

But the story did not end there because Ms Sultana was also given a cheque book when she was granted the loan and she used the cheques when there was no money in the bank.

Ms Sultana has now pleaded guilty to issuing fraudulent cheques to a string of shops, including a computer store, a hair stylist, a home improvements store and the Pavi shopping complex in Qormi, where she went on a shopping binge worth €1,322.50.

Before he hands out judgment, Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna said he would like to hear the woman's probation officer testify. Until then, he granted the woman bail against a personal guarantee of €1,000.