Woman drawn into ‘insurance scam’

A young woman agreed to help out her boyfriend’s parents by selling jewellery they had previously reported stolen.

The 21-year-old yesterday pleaded guilty to handling stolen property. Her identity cannot be divulged on the request of her lawyer in view of ongoing investigations into the theft of the jewellery and a possible insurance scam.

Lawyer Joseph Giglio said in court that his client had been asked by her fiancé’s parents to sell gold items that were the subject of an insurance claim last year. The items had been reported stolen by the parents.

Dr Giglio told Magistrate Audrey Demicoli that his client’s future in-laws suspected that one of their sons had stolen the jewellery. The jewellery was later found, by which time the parents had made an insurance claim to cover the losses.

Dr Giglio said the parents had asked his client to sell the jewellery so as not to implicate them.

She was later given €50 for her help, he told the court. Dr Giglio’s request for a ban on the publication of the name of the accused was supported by Police Inspector Chris Pullicino.

Dr Giglio said that his client had cooperated fully with the police and had a clean police record. He asked the court to take this into consideration when handing down judgment.

Magistrate Demicoli conditionally discharged her for two years.