A career fraudster made up a story about having to undergo knee surgery to trick a man into giving him €3,400, a court heard yesterday.

Duncan Buttigieg of Għaxaq was sentenced to 30 months in jail after pleading guilty to tricking the man into believing he needed the money for an operation at Saint James Hospital.

Mr Buttigieg, who has a number of jail sentences awaiting confirmation on appeal, tricked an acquaintance, Guido Agius of Għaxaq, by telling him he had to undergo a knee operation but had to have it done at the private hospital.Mr Agius gave him €3,400 to cover the expenses but later discovered that there was no operation at all and that he had been swindled.

Before Magistrate Carol Peralta, Mr Buttigieg pleaded guilty to fraud and being a repeat offender. He was sentenced to 30 months in jail. Mr Buttigieg immediately gave notice of appeal.

Police inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted.

He found there was no operation at all and that he had been swindled

Earlier this year, Mr Buttigieg was sentenced to nine years in jail after he conned people into believing he was a car dealer and collectively defrauded his victims of more than €120,000 by demanding deposits for the importation of cars from the UK.

He was jailed after a court heard how his businesses, ‘Direct From UK Car Dealer’ and ‘Direct Cars Malta’ failed to deliver the vehicles, in spite of taking deposits ranging from €1,500 to €6,000 from clients. Almost 100 people had fallen victim to this scam.

Mr Buttigieg has several other fraud cases pending before different magistrates. He also has a pending case where he stands charged with conspiring to burn the garage and car of a police inspector from the Economic Crimes Unit.

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