Serial fraudster Olaf Cini received yet another jail term yesterday after admitting to defrauding five people and Vodafone of about €80,000 in separate incidents over the last few months.

Police sources said Mr Cini first befriended his victims and then duped them into believing he needed a loan until he received money from abroad.

Mr Cini yesterday told the court he did not want a lawyer to represent him and did not want Magistrate Edwina Grima to appoint one either, all the while saying he understood the nature of the charges against him.

Last month, he was jailed for nine months after insulting a police officer and relapsing.

In 2007, he was imprisoned for two years for fraud after he told a woman he was a wealthy Greek businessman and wanted to open a travel agency bearing her name but needed to borrow €21,000, which she gave him. Five years earlier, Mr Cini received two jail terms, of three and two years, for separate cases of fraud involving forged cheques.

Magistrate Grima asked Police Inspector Ivan Cilia what he thought about punishment and the officer replied that, considering the charges, four years in prison would be ideal.

To the magistrate’s question, Mr Cini said he had started to pay Vodafone back and within two weeks the other victims would also start receiving payment.

In passing sentence, Magistrate Grima took into consideration the fact that he had relapsed and jailed him for four years.