Josef Grech, the man behind the unofficial biography of late former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, has had a suspended jail term he earned over fraud charges extended.

Mr Grech, a convicted fraudster, is no stranger to the law courts and has spent time behind bars.

He has four pending cases over fraud, falsification and defilement of a 15-year-old girl.

He received the extension after being found guilty of defrauding a DIY shop in Mrieħel.

A self-proclaimed professor, Mr Grech launched his book about Mr Mintoff on December 22 and had also set up a foundation to honour him barely 12 hours after his death in August.

The 1,048-page book, called Duminku Mintoff u Malta fi Żmienu, opens with a note from the author and a foreword by former notary Sandro Schembri Adami, who has been jailed for defrauding clients and was in jail at the same time Mr Grech was there.

The Labour Party distanced itself from the foundation saying it had not approved it.

Mr Mintoff’s family asked for a police investigation into the setting up of the foundation. Mr Mintoff’s eldest daughter, Yana, denied giving the family’s consent to its founding, as claimed by the foundation.

In a court judgment handed down by Magistrate Carol Peralta, Mr Grech was found guilty of defrauding Homemate of €1,600 in December 2010.

The magistrate noted he had previously been given an eight-month jail term suspended for two years.

Mr Mintoff was abandoned by all and I felt I should write about him

He extended the jail term to 16 months after taking into consideration the arguments made by his lawyer, Mark Anthony Mifsud, that Mr Grech was trying his utmost to reform himself.

In an interview with Times of Malta last year Mr Grech said he got to know Mr Mintoff personally and had often phoned him to give him a lift or run his errands.

“Mr Mintoff was abandoned by all and I felt I should write about him… I started working on the book in 2002 and finished the last 10 chapters in prison,” he said.