A Cameroonian man who arrived at the airport with sheets of black paper matching the size of €500 bank notes yesterday admitted to conspiring to commit fraud using a “black money” scam.

Yanou Babo Ullin, 37, opted to plead guilty in order to be able to leave the island as quickly as possible. In fact, he is due to leave the island today.

The police suspect that the sheets of black paper were meant to be used to dupe people into believing that they could be turned into €500 bank notes by using a special chemical and magic.

Legal aid lawyer Patrick Valentino said the evidence against his client was weak. He questioned how “magic” could feature in a criminal court case, adding that Mr Ullin was pleading guilty out of convenience.

Police Inspector Anne Marie Micallef said Mr Ullin arrived in Malta on Sunday and was first thought to be carrying drugs but, in a search, Customs officers found the paper instead.

In a statement to the police, Mr Ullin said he came to Malta to meet friends and shoot a film about illegal immigrants getting into criminality and was to use the paper for the project.

He later said that he had to meet his friends at an African bar in Buġibba but he did not know what the bar was called. He told them he bought the paper from a stationery in France for €33.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale handed down a two-month jail sentence suspended for four years. He also ordered Mr Ullin to be kept in custody until his departure today.

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