A 29-year-old man had been charged with defrauding a man out of €140,500 – all his savings – when he promised him an investment that turned out to be too good to be true.

Michael Camilleri, of Armier, pleaded not guilty to defrauding Paul Mangion, who on Saturday allegedly became a victim of an international scamming technique known as the ‘black money’ con.

Through this scam, people are promised an easy way to gain fast interest on their money and are shown what appear to be bank notes that have been dyed.

The scammer then shows the victim how to remove the dye, and sells the “notes” for cash. But they turn out to be worthless paper.

Mr Camilleri was charged with stealing the money that Mr Mangion trusted him to invest. He was also charged with relapsing and breaching the conditions of previous court decisions.

Mr Camilleri was denied bail.

Police Inspector Angelo Gafà and Jonathan Ferris prosecuted. Lawyer Franco Debono represented Mr Camilleri.