An Italian woman was charged with filing a false police report in which she said two men – who claimed to have paid her for sex – stole her money, mobile phone and keys from a hotel room in St Julian’s on Monday.

“I am innocent,” insisted the 33-year-old woman, who told the police her name was Roberto Castelli, a man’s name.

Police Inspector Carol Fabri, prosecuting, told the court the police had doubts as to the authenticity of the woman’s identity, given that she initially gave another name, Fernanda Rodriguez, a woman’s name that, it emerged, was her cousin’s.

Apart from that, the officer said, she had mentioned different countries of origin.

The police found her wallet in the room where she’d been with the two men. Her phone was also found

Ms Fabri said the accused had filed a report claiming that two men with whom she had spent time in her hotel room at the Tropicana Hotel in St Julian’s had stolen her belongings from the room. She did not mention being paid for sex.

She then pointed out the two men, both Italian, to the police and they were arrested on Monday night.

However, during investigations, the police found the woman’s wallet, white with a purple floral design, in the bedside table of the room where she had been with the two men. Her mobile phone, a white Samsung, was found in her luggage in the room next door, where she was actually staying, the prosecuting officer told Magistrate Charmaine Galea.

The two Italian men testified that they had met Ms Castelli in Paceville and had gone with her to the hotel on Monday night.

One of them paid her €50 to have sex. Both men went with her to the room and, after they “did what they had to do”, they left the room without taking anything that belonged to her, they insisted.

Later that evening, the men were stopped by the police after Ms Castelli said they had stolen her things and insisted they had stolen €110 from her wallet.

Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, who represented Ms Castelli as legal aid, made a request for bail but the prosecution objected, claiming Ms Castelli was not trustworthy, they were not sure about her identity and she did not have a fixed address and income.

The prosecuting officer said Ms Castelli told the police she would “sit on a bench outside Burger King” if granted bail.

Magistrate Galea denied bail.

The case will continue on February 11.