A woman who defrauded a number of companies and forged signatures on stolen cheques to the tune of €19,000 was yesterday given a suspended jail term while her brother was jailed for 33 months.

Gina Lia, 32, of Mosta was found guilty of defrauding the companies of about €19,000. Her 35-year-old brother, Brooks, who is serving time in prison, defrauded two companies of about €1,000 and was jailed because he was also charged with relapsing.

The siblings committed the crimes between April and May 2008 and had used the stolen cheques to purchase goods ranging from shoes to groceries.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano said that in Ms Lia's case he took into consideration the fact that she only had one other conviction on her criminal record, she cooperated with the police and had returned some of the items she had bought. He, therefore, handed down a two-year jail term suspended for four years.

Her brother, the court noted, had admitted at an early stage of the proceedings and returned some of the items but had also relapsed. Because of this he was jailed.

Police Inspectors Robert Vella and Angelo Gafà prosecuted.