A woman was conditionally discharged for three years for filing a false police report claiming two men stole €20,000 from her.
Margherita Galea, 50, of Qormi, yesterday admitted to lying about where the incident happened and the amount stolen. However, she insisted that the two men did take €10,000 that belonged to her.
Police Inspector James Grech, prosecuting, explained that on August 14 Ms Galea filed a report claiming that two men stole €20,000 after using pepper spray on her the previous day. She later said the amount was €10,000.
Investigations showed the woman was never in the area where she claimed she was robbed. The officer noted that Ms Galea had mentioned two alleged robbers by name and they were arrested and held for long hours for questioning.
Ms Galea’s lawyer, Marion Camilleri, said her client had really been robbed but she lied about the details of how and where it happened “for personal reasons”.
Ms Galea admitted she said the men had taken €20,000 because she was angry. She insisted they had stolen €10,000 but did not want to pursue the case because she knew they had spent the money and did not want to incur more legal fees.
Magistrate Giovanni Grixti heard that Ms Galea had cooperated with the police and had a clean record. He opted for a conditional discharge and ordered her general interdiction for five years.