Civil servant profits from fraud scheme

A civil servant who devised an ingenious plan to defraud the government yesterday admitted to pocketing over €50,000 in cash. Bjorn Borg, 32, from Qawra was arraigned under arrest.

The Education Department ordered an internal investigation after Mr Borg was noted behaving suspiciously. It eventually resulted that, since 2008, Mr Borg siphoned off €52,000 in cash by issuing receipts and taking the money that foreign students would pay for courses in Malta. Mr Borg admitted in court to misusing a computer, defrauding the government and laundering money.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla told Magistrate Doreen Clarke that the amount pocketed by Mr Borg could exceed the €52,000 mark. Investigations were continued to establish the exact amount.

Bail was granted against a deposit of €5,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000.